(1)In this Part of this Act—
" calendar month " (where those words are used) and, in relation to a calendar month, " the material time", have the meaning given by paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 3 to this Act;
" chargeable period ", in relation to an oil field, has the meaning given by section 1(3) of this Act;
" claim period ", in relation to an oil field, has the meaning given by paragraph 1 of Schedule 5 to this Act;
" crude ", where the reference is to oil being disposed of or appropriated crude, refers to its being so dealt with without having been refined (whether or not it has previously undergone initial treatment);
" determination ", in a context relating to an assessment or determination on or in relation to a participator, means a determination under Schedule 2 to this Act that a loss is allowable to him or that neither an assessable profit nor an allowable loss has accrued to him;
" initial storage ", in relation to oil won from an oil field, means the storage in the United Kingdom, the territorial sea thereof or a designated area of a quantity of oil won from the field not exceeding, in the case of storage in the United Kingdom, a quantity equal to ten times the maximum daily production rate of oil for the field as planned or achieved (whichever is the greater), but does not include—
the storing of oil as part of or in conjunction with the operation of an oil refinery ; or
deballasting; or
conveying oil in a pipe-line ;
" initial treatment ", in relation to oil won from an oil field, means the doing, at any place in the United Kingdom, the territorial sea thereof or a designated area, of any of the following things, that is to say—
subjecting oil won from the field to any process of which the sole purpose is to enable the oil to be safely stored, safely loaded into a tanker or safely accepted by an oil refinery ; or
separating oil so won and consisting of methane gas from oil so won and consisting of gas other than methane,
but does not include—
the storing of oil even where this involves the doing to the oil of things within paragraph (a) or (b) of this definition ; or
any activity carried on as part of, or in association with, the refining of oil; or
deballasting;
" land " includes land in the United Kingdom covered with water;
" licence " means a licence under the [1934 c. 36.] Petroleum (Production) Act 1934 or the [1964 c. 28 (N.I.).] Petroleum (Production) Act (Northern Ireland) 1964 authorising the winning of oil, and " licensed area " shall be construed accordingly ;
" licensee " means—
the person entitled to the benefit of a licence or, where two or more persons are entitled to the benefit of a licence, each of those persons; and
a person who has rights under an agreement which is approved by the Board and is certified by the Secretary of State to confer on that person rights which are the same as, or similar to, those conferred by a licence;
" oil " has the meaning given by section 1(1) of this Act;
" oil field " shall be construed in accordance with Schedule 1 to this Act;
" participator " (except in paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 to this Act) means, in relation to an oil field and any chargeable period—
a person who is or was at any time in that chargeable period a licensee in respect of any licensed area then wholly or partly included in the field ; and
a person who is no longer a licensee in respect of any licensed area wholly or partly included in the field, but who was such a licensee at any time in either of the two chargeable periods preceding that chargeable period; and
a person who is no longer a licensee in respect of any licensed area wholly or partly included in the field (and who does not fall within paragraph (b) of this definition), but who has or had at any time in that chargeable period a share of oil won (whether or not in that period) from the field, being a share with respect to any part of which either of the following conditions is or was satisfied at that time, that is to say— (i) he has or had neither disposed of that part nor relevantly appropriated it; or
he has or had disposed of, but not delivered, that part;
" pipe-line " means a pipe-line as defined in section 65 of the [1962 c. 58.] Pipe-lines Act 1962 ;
" production purposes ", in relation to an oil field, means any of the following purposes, that is to say—
carrying on drilling or production operations within the field ; or
in the case of oil won from the field that was so won from strata in the sea bed and subsoil of either the territorial sea of the United Kingdom or a designated area, pumping it to the place where it is first landed in the United Kingdom ; or
the initial treatment of oil won from the field;
" relevant licence in relation to a participator in an oil field, means any licence held or previously held by him in respect of a licensed area wholly or partly included in the field;
" relevantly appropriated ", in relation to oil won from an oil field, means appropriated to refining or to any use except use for production purposes, and " relevant appropriation " shall be construed accordingly ;
" the responsible person ", in relation to an oil field, has the meaning given by paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 to this Act;
" royalty ", in relation to a participator in an oil field, means royalty payable (but not, it is hereby declared, oil delivered) to the Secretary of State under any relevant licence;
" tax " or " the tax " means petroleum revenue tax.
(2)In this Part of this Act any reference to the use of an asset connection with an oil field is a reference to its use in connection with that field for one or more of the purposes mentioned in section 3(1) of this Act (excluding section 3(1)(b)).
(3)In this Part of this Act any reference (however worded) to the doing of anything in a chargeable period in connection with an oil field or with oil won from an oil field shall, as regards the first chargeable period for any oil field, be construed as including the doing of that thing in connection with the area of the field as subsequently determined under Schedule 1 to this Act or, as the case may be, with oil won from that area.
(4)In so far as a person is a participator in an oil field by virtue of a licence under the [1964 c. 28 (N.I.).] Petroleum (Production) Act (Northern Ireland) 1964, references in this Part of this Act to the Secretary of State (except references in Schedule 1) shall be construed in his case as references to the Department of Commerce for Northern Ireland.