Excise Tariff (Fields) Guidelines (Cth)

Commonwealth of Australia

Excise Tariff Act 1921

Excise Tariff (Fields) Guidelines (Number 1) 2008

ETFG 1/2008

I, Martin Ferguson, Minister for Resources and Energy, make the following guidelines under section 3A of the Excise Tariff Act 1921.

Dated 14^th July 2008

Martin Ferguson

Minister for Resources and Energy

Citation

1. These guidelines may be cited as the Excise Tariff (Fields) Guidelines.

[Note: These guidelines commence upon registration on the Federal Register   of Legislative Instruments]

Definition of "reservoir"

1. For the purposes of clause 3, "reservoir" means a porous and permeable underground formation containing an individual and separate natural accumulation of producible hydrocarbons (whether oil or gas, or both) that is:

(a)confined by impermeable rock or water barriers; and

(b)characterised by a single natural pressure system.

Definition of "field"

1. (1) In making By-laws prescribing a field for the purposes of the definition of "exempt onshore field" or "exempt offshore field" in subsection 3(1) of the Excise Tariff Act 1921, the CEO must take into account that, for any of those purposes, "field" means an area overlying:

(a)a single reservoir; or

(b)multiple reservoirs, all grouped on, or related to, the same individual geological structure and/or stratigraphic condition.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph 3(1)(b), 2 or more reservoirs may                 be within 1 field despite being separated:

  (a)   vertically by intervening impervious strata; and/or

  (b)   laterally by local geological barriers.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph 3(1)(b)

   (a)     reservoirs do not belong to the same field if:

(i)         they are located in separate culminations of one                   gross geological structure or in widely separated    locations of the same stratigraphic trap situation;    and

(ii)        the horizontal separation of the areas overlying    the productive reservoirs exceeds 1 kilometre;    and

(b)  2 or more reservoirs that occur in, or are related to, different     geological structures and/or stratigraphic conditions belong to

    the same field if the reservoirs:

(i)are vertically one above the other; and

(ii)overlap in horizontal extent.