South Australia

Cooper Basin (Ratification) Amendment Bill 2003

A Bill For

An Act to amend the Cooper Basin (Ratification) Act 1975.

Contents

Part 1—Preliminary

1 Short title

2 Commencement

3 Amendment provisions

Part 2—Amendment of Cooper Basin (Ratification) Act 1975

4 Amendment of section 3—Interpretation

5 Amendment of section 9

6 Substitution of section 16

7 Amendment of Indenture

Schedule 1—Related amendments

The Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

This Act may be cited as the Cooper Basin (Ratification) Amendment Act 2003.

2—Commencement

(1) Subject to this section, this Act will come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

(2) Section 7(1) and (5) will be taken to have come into operation on 1 July 2000.

3—Amendment provisions

In this Act, a provision under a heading referring to the amendment of a specified Act amends the Act so specified.

Part 2—Amendment of Cooper Basin (Ratification) Act 1975

4—Amendment of section 3—Interpretation

Section 3(1)—delete subsection (1) and substitute:

(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—

AGL Letter of Agreement means the letter of agreement entered into on 26 May 1971 between The Australian Gas Light Company of the one part and Alliance Petroleum Australia NL, Basin Oil NL, Bridge Oil Ltd (formerly Bridge Oil NL), Delhi International Oil Corporation, Pursuit Oil NL, Reef Oil NL, Santos Ltd, Total Exploration Australia Pty Ltd, and Vamgas NL of the other part and includes all agreements supplementing or amending that agreement—

(a) that were made before the commencement of the Cooper Basin (Ratification) Amendment Act 2003; or

(b) that are authorised or ratified by an Act; or

(c) that are submitted to, and approved by, the Minister as being of only minor significance;

authorised agreement—each of the following is an authorised agreement:

(a) the Indenture;

(b) the Liquids Agreement;

(c) the AGL Letter of Agreement;

(d) the Fixed Factor Settlement Agreement;

(e) the Right of Way Agreement;

(f) the Unit Agreement;

(g) the Downstream Agreement;

(h) Pipeline Licence No 2;

(i) each of the Liquids Sales Contracts;

Downstream Agreement means the agreement made on 31 December 1981 between Alliance Petroleum Australia NL, Basin Oil NL, Bridge Oil Ltd, Bridge Oil Developments Pty Ltd, Crusader Resources NL, Delhi Petroleum Pty Ltd, Reef Oil NL, Santos Ltd, South Australian Oil and Gas Corporation Pty Ltd, Total Exploration Australia Pty Ltd, and Vamgas Ltd and includes all agreements supplementing or amending that agreement—

(a) that were made before the commencement of the Cooper Basin (Ratification) Amendment Act 2003; or

(b) that are authorised or ratified by an Act; or

(c) that are submitted to, and approved by, the Minister as being of only minor significance;

Fixed Factor Settlement Agreement means the agreement dated 5 December 1996 between Santos Ltd, Delhi Petroleum Pty Ltd, Santos Petroleum Pty Ltd, Boral Energy Resources Ltd, Vamgas Pty Ltd, Crusader Resources NL, Bridge Oil Developments Pty Ltd, Santos (BOL) Pty Ltd, Reef Oil Pty Ltd, Alliance Petroleum Australia Pty Ltd, and Basin Oil NL and includes all instruments supplementing or amending that agreement—

(a) that were made before the commencement of the Cooper Basin (Ratification) Amendment Act 2003; or

(b) that are authorised or ratified by an Act; or

(c) that are submitted to, and approved by, the Minister as being of only minor significance;

Indenture means the indenture a copy of which is set out in the Schedule and includes appendices forming part of that indenture and, subject to section 5, includes that indenture as amended;

liquids means any product (as defined in the Liquids Agreement) to which the Liquids Agreement relates;

Liquids Agreement means the Stony Point (Liquids Project) Indenture;

Liquids Sales Contracts means the contracts for or in relation to the sale of liquids made by the Producers or any one or more of them before the commencement of the Cooper Basin (Ratification) Amendment Act 2003 and includes all instruments supplementing or amending any such contract—

(a) that were made before the commencement of the Cooper Basin (Ratification) Amendment Act 2003; or

(b) that are authorised or ratified by an Act; or

(c) that are submitted to, and approved by, the Minister as being of only minor significance;

party includes an agent, successor or assign of a party;

Pipeline Licence No 2 means the pipeline licence referred to in the Liquids Agreement as Pipeline Licence No 2;

Right of Way Agreement means the agreement referred to in the Liquids Agreement as the PASA and Producers (Right of Way) Agreement and includes all instruments supplementing or amending that agreement—

(a) that were made before the commencement of the Cooper Basin (Ratification) Amendment Act 2003; or

(b) that are authorised or ratified by an Act; or

(c) that are submitted to, and approved by, the Minister as being of only minor significance;

Unit Agreement means the agreement entered into on 21 December 1976 between Alliance Petroleum Australia NL, Basin Oil NL, Bridge Oil Ltd, Delhi International Oil Corporation, Pursuit Oil NL, Reef Oil NL, Santos Ltd and Vamgas NL and includes all agreements supplementing or amending that agreement (including supplementary or amending agreements to which a person who is not a party to the principal agreement is a party)—

(a) that were made before the commencement of the Cooper Basin (Ratification) Amendment Act 2003; or

(b) that are authorised or ratified by an Act; or

(c) that are submitted to, and approved by, the Minister as being of only minor significance.

5—Amendment of section 9

Section 9—after its present contents (now to be designated as subsection (1)) insert:

(2) However—

(a) an application for a petroleum production licence made between 30 October 1997 and 27 February 1999 was required to meet the criteria established by sections 27 and 28 of the Petroleum Act 1940; and

(b) no further licence or approval has been, or will be, granted under this section in respect of an application made after 27 February 1999 (but this paragraph does not affect the renewal of a licence or approval granted in respect of an application made before that date).

6—Substitution of section 16

Section 16—repeal the section and substitute:

16—Approval of certain things

The following things are specifically authorised for the purposes of section 51 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 of the Commonwealth:

(a) the authorised agreements; and

(b) anything done (before or after the commencement of this section) by a party, or anyone acting on behalf of a party, under or to give effect to the authorised agreements or any of them; and

(c) anything done (before or after the commencement of this section) to give effect to the conditions of Pipeline Licence No 2; and

(d) all contracts, arrangements, understandings, practices, acts and things done or made by the Producers or any of them before the commencement of this section and related to the sale or delivery of liquids;

(e) a contract, arrangement, understanding, practice, act or thing done or made by the Producers or any of them after the commencement of this section and related to the sale or delivery of liquids if—

(i) the Producers have given written notice of it to the Minister; and

(ii) the Minister has not, within 60 days after receiving that notice, given notice to the Producers excluding it from the ambit of this section on the ground that it is contrary to the public interest.

7—Amendment of Indenture

(1) Schedule, Indenture, after clause 1(1)—insert:

(1A) GST means the tax payable under the GST law.

(1B) GST component means a component attributable to a liability to GST.

(1C) GST law means—

(a) A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 of the Commonwealth; and

(b) the related legislation of the Commonwealth dealing with the imposition of a tax on the supply of goods and services.

(2) Schedule, Indenture, clause 1(10)—delete subclause (10) and substitute:

(10) Unit Agreement has the same meaning as in the Act.

(3) Schedule, Indenture, after clause 1(15)—insert:

(16) Authorised Agreement has the same meaning as in the Act.

(4) Schedule, Indenture, after clause 6(1)—insert:

(1A) However—

(a) an application under subclause (1) for a petroleum production licence made between 30 October 1997 and 27 February 1999 was required to meet the criteria established by sections 27 and 28 of the Petroleum Act 1940; and

(b) no further licence or approval has been, or will be, granted under subclause (1) in respect of an application made after 27 February 1999 (but this paragraph does not affect the renewal of a licence or approval granted in respect of an application made before that date).

(5) Schedule, Indenture, clause 10—delete the clause and substitute:

10—Authorisation for the purposes of the Trade Practices Act 1974 of the Commonwealth

(1) The State undertakes to use its best endeavours to maintain in force a statutory authorisation of the following things for the purposes of section 51 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 of the Commonwealth:

(a) the authorised agreements; and

(b) anything done (before or after the commencement of this clause) by a party, or anyone acting on behalf of a party, under or to give effect to the authorised agreements.

(2) In respect of other matters relating to the rights and obligations of the Producers, the State undertakes to give consideration, at the request of the Producers, to the introduction of legislation specifically authorising the making of agreements, arrangements and understandings or other things for which the Producers may want an authorisation under section 51 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 of the Commonwealth.

(6) Schedule, Indenture, clause 12(5)(f)—delete paragraph (f) and substitute:

(f) In determining the value of actual sales of petroleum, the full market value of petroleum, or the amount of any expenditure for the purposes of this clause, any GST component is to be ignored.

(7) In this section—

Indenture has the same meaning as in the Cooper Basin (Ratification) Act 1975 as amended by this Act.

Schedule 1—Related amendments

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Amendment provisions

In this Schedule, a provision under a heading referring to the amendment of a specified Act amends the Act so specified.

Part 2—Amendment of Stony Point (Liquids Project) Ratification Act 1981

2—Amendment of section 5—Modification of State law in order to give effect to the Indenture etc

Section 5(2)(l)—delete paragraph (l)

3—Amendment of First Schedule

First Schedule, Indenture, Part XXIV—delete the Part