Petroleum and Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975
| Year | 1975 |
Petroleum and Submarine Pipe-lines Act 1975
1975 CHAPTER 74
An Act to establish the British National Oil Corporation and make provision with respect to the functions of the Corporation; to make further provision about licences to search for and get petroleum and about submarine pipe-lines and refineries; to authorise loans and guarantees in connection with the development of the petroleum resources of the United Kingdom and payments in respect of certain guarantees and loans by the Bank of England; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[12th November 1975]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I
The British National Oil Corporation
Constitution
1 Constitution of the Corporation.
(1) There shall be a body corporate, to be called the British National Oil Corporation (and hereafter in this Act referred to as ‘the Corporation’) which shall be constituted in accordance with the following provisions of this section.
(2) The Corporation shall consist of not less than eight and not more than twenty persons appointed by the Secretary of State to be members of the Corporation from among persons appearing to him to have had wide experience of, and shown capacity in, activities connected with petroleum, other industrial, commercial or financial matters, administration or the organisation of workers.
(3) The Secretary of State—
(a ) shall appoint one member to be the chairman of the Corporation;
(b ) may appoint another member or other members to be the deputy chairman or deputy chairmen of the Corporation;
(c ) shall ensure that two members are persons employed in the civil service of the State;
(d ) shall in appointing members have regard to the desirability of there being members who are familiar with the special requirements and circumstances of particular areas of the United Kingdom.
(4) The provisions of Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect with respect to the Corporation.
(5) It is hereby declared that the Corporation is not to be regarded as a servant or (except in pursuance of an express provision in that behalf made by or under this Act) as an agent of the Crown or as enjoying any status, privilege or immunity of the Crown or (subject to section 9 of this Act) as exempt from any tax, duty, rate, levy or other charge whatsoever, whether general or local, and that its property is not to be regarded as property of or held on behalf of the Crown; but nothing in this Act shall be construed as derogating from any privilege, immunity or exemption of the Crown in relation to any matter as respects which the Corporation acts as agent of the Crown by virtue of such an express provision as aforesaid.
(6) In Part II of Schedule 1 to the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 , after the entry relating to the British Gas Corporation there shall be inserted the words ‘The British National Oil Corporation’; and in Part II of Schedule 1 to the Northern Ireland Assembly Disqualification Act 1975 , after the entry relating to the British Airways Board there shall be inserted the words aforesaid.
General functions of the Corporation
2 General powers.
(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act, the Corporation shall have power—
(a ) to search for and get petroleum existing in its natural condition in strata in any part of the world;
(b ) to move, store and treat petroleum and anything derived from it;
(c ) to buy, sell and otherwise deal in petroleum and anything derived from it;
(d ) to perform for any Minister of the Crown or Northern Ireland department such services connected with petroleum and anything derived from it as the Minister or department may request the Corporation to perform on his or its behalf;
(e ) without prejudice to the generality of the preceding paragraph, to do anything required for the purpose of giving effect to agreements entered into by the Secretary of State with a view to securing participation by the Government of the United Kingdom, or by the Corporation or any other body on behalf of the Government, in activities connected with petroleum beneath controlled waters;
(f ) to provide any person with advice or assistance of any kind, including research services and training facilities, as respects any matter in which the Corporation has skill or experience;
(g ) to do anything which the Corporation considers is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the performance of any of the Corporation's functions.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by the preceding subsection, those powers include in particular power—
(a ) to provide and operate pipe-lines, tanker-ships and refineries in connection with petroleum;
(b ) to carry out research in connection with petroleum or anything derived from it and to promote activities for the purpose of turning to account the results of such research.
(3) It is hereby declared that the preceding provisions of this section relate only to the capacity of the Corporation as a body corporate and that nothing in those provisions authorises the Corporation to disregard any enactment or rule of law.
(4) The Corporation shall not, except with the consent of the Secretary of State and in accordance with any conditions specified in the instrument signifying his consent, exercise its powers—
(a ) to search for or get petroleum in any area outside Great Britain and controlled waters;
(b ) to refine crude liquid petroleum or to treat, buy, sell or otherwise deal in anything derived from petroleum;
(c ) to promote or participate in the formation of, or acquire or relinquish membership of or any interest in or security issued by, a body corporate;
(d ) to borrow or lend money, to charge any of its actual or future assets or to guarantee the performance by another person of any obligation;
(e ) to promote or oppose in Parliament any Bill or any order under the Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act 1936 ;
(f ) to provide any person outside the United Kingdom with advice or assistance;
and the Secretary of State shall not give his consent for the exercise of any power mentioned in paragraph (c ) or (d ) of this subsection except with the approval of the Treasury.
3 General duties.
(1) It shall be the duty of the Corporation, in formulating and carrying out plans for the general conduct of its undertaking and the undertakings of its subsidiaries, to act on lines settled from time to time by the Corporation with the approval of the Secretary of State.
(2) It shall be the duty of the Corporation to ensure that, where the Corporation proposes to engage to a substantial extent in an activity in which it is not currently engaged or to increase substantially the extent of any activity in which it is currently engaged, the Corporation gives notice of the proposal to the Secretary of State before carrying out the proposal.
(3) It shall be the duty of the Corporation to tender advice to the Secretary of State with respect to any matter connected with petroleum as to which the Corporation considers it appropriate to provide advice for the Secretary of State or he requires the Corporation to give him advice.
(4) It shall be the duty of the Corporation, from time to time when the Corporation considers it appropriate or the Secretary of State so requires,—
(a ) to undertake a review of the affairs of the Corporation and its subsidiaries for the purpose of determining how the management of the activities of the Corporation and its subsidiaries can most efficiently be organised; and
(b ) to make a report to the Secretary of State upon the Corporation's conclusions arising from the review.
(5) It shall be the duty of the Corporation, if so required by the Secretary of State, to undertake on behalf of the Crown such activities as the Secretary of State may specify with respect to—
(a ) any pipe-lines and any installations for the storage of petroleum which belong to or are held on behalf of the Crown;
(b ) any petroleum belonging to or held on behalf of the Crown.
4 Directions by Secretary of State.
(1) The Secretary of State may, after consultation with the Corporation, give to the Corporation such general or specific directions as the Secretary of State thinks fit.
(2) Nothing in any provision of this Act, excluding the preceding subsection, which provides for the giving of a direction or notice to the Corporation by the Secretary of State or for the making in any form by the Secretary of State of a requirement relating to the Corporation shall be construed as prejudicing the generality of the preceding subsection.
Financial provisions
5 General financial duties.
(1) The Secretary of State may, by notice given to the Corporation, require the Corporation to perform such duties of a financial nature as are specified in the notice, and it shall be the duty of the Corporation to comply with the notice.
(2) A notice in pursuance of this section shall not be given except with the approval of the Treasury and after consultation with the Corporation.
(3) A notice in pursuance of this section may—
(a ) specify different duties in respect of different activities of the...
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