Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Oil and Gas Authority (Levy) Regulations 2016 and come into force on 1st April 2016.

Interpretation

2. In these Regulations—

“charging period” means the period beginning on 1st April 2016 and ending on 31st March 2017;

“licensee” means a person holding a petroleum licence;

“offshore exploration licence” means a petroleum licence of the sort referred to in regulation 2(2)(a) of the Offshore Exploration (Petroleum, and Gas Storage and Unloading) (Model Clauses) Regulations 2009( 2 ), relating to an area any part of which lies within offshore waters;

“offshore licence” means an offshore exploration licence or an offshore production licence;

“offshore production licence” means a petroleum licence relating to an area any part of which lies within offshore waters which is not an offshore exploration licence;

“offshore waters” means—

“petroleum licence” means a licence under—

Liability to pay the levy

3. —(1) Except where paragraph (2) applies, for each offshore production licence which a licensee holds at the relevant time, the licensee is liable to pay, in respect of the charging period, a levy of £6,808.65.

(2) For each offshore production licence—

(a) which a licensee holds at the relevant time, and

(b) under which, at that time, the licensee is entitled to—

(i) erect or carry out any relevant works (within the meaning of the licence) either in the licensed area or elsewhere, for the purpose of getting petroleum from that area or for the purpose of conveying to a place on land petroleum got from that area; or

(ii) get petroleum from that area otherwise than in the course of searching for petroleum, drilling wells or testing wells,

the licensee is liable to pay, in respect of the charging period, a levy of £64,951.96.

(3) Where at the relevant time a licensee is the licensee of an offshore exploration licence, the licensee is liable to pay, in respect of the charging period, a levy of £6,808.65 for that licence.

(4) For the purpose of this regulation the “relevant time” means 12.01a.m. on 1st April 2016.

Payment of the levy

4. Where a licensee of an offshore licence is liable to pay a levy to the Secretary of State in accordance with regulation 3, the Secretary of State must notify that licensee in writing of—

(a) the amount of the levy for which that licensee is liable (and, where that amount has been reduced under regulation 7(5)(a), the notification must say so);

(b) the date by which the amount is required to be paid; and

(c) details of how the payment can be made.

Interest payable on late payment of the levy

5. —(1) Where any amount of the levy notified to the licensee of an offshore licence is not paid in accordance with the notification under regulation 4, the licensee is liable to pay to the Secretary of State interest, calculated in accordance with paragraph (2), on the amount of the levy which remains unpaid.

(2) The interest payable under paragraph (1) is simple interest calculated from day to day on the unpaid amount from the date by which the amount is required until the date when payment is made at a rate of 5 per cent per annum over the Bank of England base rate from time to time.

(3) For the purpose of this regulation the “Bank of England base rate” means—

(a) the rate announced from time to time by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England as the official dealing rate, being the rate at which the Bank is willing to enter into transactions for providing short term liquidity in the money markets; or

(b) where an order under section 19 of the Bank of England Act 1998( 6 ) (reserve powers) is in force, any equivalent rate determined by the Treasury under that section.

Recovery of the levy

6. —(1) Where any amount of the levy notified to the licensee of an offshore licence is not paid in accordance with the notification under regulation 4, that unpaid amount together with any interest due in accordance with regulation 5 is recoverable as a civil debt due to the Secretary of State.

(2) Where a licensee of an offshore licence is more than one person, the liability to pay the levy is joint and several.

Repayment or credit of the levy

7. —(1) This regulation applies where the total amount of the levy to be paid by virtue of the 2015 Regulations in respect of the period beginning on 1st October 2015 and ending on 31st March 2016 exceeds the costs incurred by the Secretary of State in exercising the relevant functions referred to in section 42(3)(a) of the Infrastructure Act 2015( 7 ) in respect of that period.

(2) Where this regulation applies, the Secretary of State must divide those costs by the total amount of the levy to be paid to 3 decimal places to give the relevant multiplier.

(3) The Secretary of State must then adjust the levy payable by a relevant person under regulation 3 of the 2015 Regulations (“the original levy”) by multiplying the amount of that original levy by the relevant multiplier to give the new levy figure payable by that person (“the new levy”).

(4) The new levy is to be substituted for the original levy in any notification given, or to be given, under regulation 5 of the 2015 Regulations, and regulation 6 of the 2015 Regulations is to be construed accordingly.

(5) If a relevant person to whom a notification has been given under regulation 5 of the 2015 Regulations has paid more than the new levy—

(a) where that person is liable to pay a levy under regulation 3 of these Regulations, the Secretary of State must either reduce the amount of that liability by the difference between the new levy and the amount actually paid or pay the difference to the person;

(b) in all other cases, the Secretary of State must pay the difference to the person.

(6) In this regulation—

“the 2015 Regulations” means the Oil and Gas Authority (Levy) Regulations 2015( 8 );

“relevant person” means a person who, in respect of the period beginning on 1st October 2015 and ending on 31st March 2016, is liable to pay a levy under regulation 3 of the 2015 Regulations (and includes a person who has discharged that liability in whole or in part).