Maintenance of fuel reserves
6 Bulk stocks of petroleum, etc.
1
Directions under this section may be given to any person who in the course of an undertaking carried on by him produces, supplies or uses crude liquid petroleum, or petroleum products.
2
The Secretary of State may—
a
direct any such person to make such arrangements with respect to his United Kingdom stocks of crude liquid petroleum, or of petroleum products, as will—
i
enable those stocks to be brought within a specified time to, and thereafter maintained at, a specified level, and
ii
ensure that they do not fall below that level, except as may be permitted by the terms of the direction or by authority of the Secretary of State;
b
in the case of any such person who is a substantial supplier to the United Kingdom market, direct him to create such stocks and make such arrangements with respect to them.
3
In giving such directions, the Secretary of State shall have regard in particular to—
a
the quantities of crude liquid petroleum, or of petroleum products, which have been supplied by the undertaking to the United Kingdom market in past periods; and
b
the extent to which crude liquid petroleum and petroleum products produced or supplied by the undertaking are, or will be, indigenous.
“Indigenous”, in relation to crude liquid petroleum, means won under the authority of licences granted under United Kingdom legislation, and in relation to petroleum products means produced in the United Kingdom from indigenous crude.
4
A direction given to a person under this section may require a specified portion of his stocks to be held in Northern Ireland.
5
Before giving a direction under this section the Secretary of State shall notify the substance of the proposed direction to the person to whom he proposes to give it and shall afford him a reasonable opportunity to make representations.
6
In this section “specified” means specified by the Secretary of State’s direction; and the Secretary of State may by order prescribe, as respects the effect of, and compliance with, directions under this section—
a
the cases and circumstances in which stocks (in the United Kingdom or elsewhere) are to be treated, in relation to any person, as his United Kingdom stocks, and those in which a person is to be treated as a substantial supplier to the United Kingdom market;
b
the extent to which stocks of a particular kind are to count towards compliance with a direction specifying stocks of another kind; and
c
the method by which quantities are to be measured for different purposes.
7 Fuel stocks at power stations.
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9F3 Liquefaction of offshore natural gas.
1
The Secretary of State’s consent is required for offshore natural gas to be subjected in Great Britain to any process of liquefaction which results in the production of liquid methane or ethane F4except where—.
a
methane or ethane is liquefied for the purpose of enabling it to be stored;
b
the process of liquefaction is carried out by a public gas transporter within the meaning of Part I of the Gas Act 1986; or
c
small quantities of liquid methane or ethane are produced in the course of a gas processing operation within the meaning of section 12 of the Gas Act 1995.
2
The Secretary of State’s consent under subsection (1) above may be given either with reference to particular cases or by means of orders of general application.
3
A specific consent given to any person under subsection (1) above (that is to say, a consent given to him otherwise than by an order of general application) is irrevocable and may be given for a specified period or indefinitely.
4
Where consent under that subsection has been given by an order of general application, any person who proposes to undertake a process of liquefaction which is covered by that general consent may notify the Secretary of State of his proposal (in the manner specified in the order), whereupon subsection (3) above applies as if specific consent either unlimited in duration or, if the order so provides, for the period there specified, had been given to him for that process of liquefaction.
5
The consent of the Secretary of State under subsection (1) above may in any case be made subject to conditions which may, in particular, be framed by reference to the description or origin of the gas.
6
In this section— “offshore natural gas” means natural gas won under the authority of F5licences granted under Part I of the Petroleum Act 1998 by virtue of section 3(2)(b) of that Act, but does not include gas derived from offshore crude otherwise than as a by—product of crude stabilisation; “offshore crude” means crude liquid petroleum won under such authority; “crude stabilisation” means the treating of offshore crude to enable it to be safely stored or transported.