The property in petroleum to which subsection (2) of this section applies at the commencement of this Act, so far as it is not already so vested, is hereby vested in His Majesty; and His Majesty shall at any time have the exclusive right of searching and boring for and getting petroleum to which that subsection applies at that time.

Subject to subsection (3) of this section, this subsection applies at any time to petroleum which at that time exists in its natural condition in strata in Great Britain or beneath the territorial waters of the United Kingdom . . . F2; and it so applies notwithstanding that the land in which any such petroleum so exists belongs to His Majesty or the Duchy of Cornwall, belongs to a government department or is held in trust for His Majesty for the purposes of a government department.

Subsection (2) of this section does not apply to petroleum which at the commencement of this Act may be lawfully gotten under a licence in force under the Petroleum (Production) Act 1918 M1, being a licence specified in the Schedule to this Act, so long as that licence remains in force.

For the purpose of this Act the expression “petroleum” includes any mineral oil or relative hydro-carbon and natural gas existing in its natural condition in strata, but does not include coal or bituminous shales or other stratified deposits from which oil can be extracted by destructive distillation.