Australian Tax Treaties

Timor-Leste (Timor Sea Maritime Boundaries Treaty)  

TREATY BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF TIMOR-LESTE ESTABLISHING THEIR MARITIME BOUNDARIES IN THE TIMOR SEA  

ARTICLE 1   Definitions  

1    
For the purposes of this Treaty, including its Annexes:

(a)    " 1972 Seabed Treaty Boundary " means the boundary established by Articles 1 and 2 of the Agreement between the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia Establishing Certain Seabed Boundaries in the Area of the Timor and Arafura Seas, supplementary to the Agreement of 18 May 1971 (Jakarta, 9 October 1972);

(b)    " Bayu-Undan Pipeline " means the export pipeline which transports gas produced from the Bayu-Undan Gas Field to the Darwin liquefied natural gas processing facility at Wickham Point;

(c)    " Bayu-Undan Gas Field " means the field which, at the time of signing of this Treaty, is subject to the Production Sharing Contracts JPDA 03-12 and JPDA 03-13;

(d)    " Buffalo Oil Field " means the field known as Buffalo which, at the time of the signing of this Treaty, lies in the WA-523-P exploration permit area;

(e)    " Commercial Depletion " means the date by which the relevant authority confirms that the contractor or titleholder has fulfilled all of its production and decommissioning obligations under the relevant development or decommissioning plan, contract or licence and that the relevant contract or licence has terminated or otherwise expired;

(f)    " Development Concept " means the basic terms on which the Greater Sunrise Fields are to be developed;

(g)    " Development Plan " means the development, exploitation and management plan for the Petroleum in the Greater Sunrise Fields consistent with Good Oilfield Practice, including, but not limited to, details of the sub-surface evaluation and facilities, production facilities, the production profile for the expected life of the project, the expected life of the fields, the estimated capital and non-capital expenditure covering the feasibility, fabrication, installation and pre-production stages of the project, which is approved and assessed in accordance with the criteria established in Article 9(3) of Annex B of this Treaty;

(h)    " Good Oilfield Practice " means such practices and procedures employed in the petroleum industry worldwide by prudent and diligent operators under conditions and circumstances similar to those experienced in connection with the relevant aspects of Petroleum operations, having regard to relevant factors including:

(i) conservation of Petroleum, which includes the utilisation of methods and processes to maximise the recovery of hydrocarbons in a technically and economically efficient manner, and to minimise losses at the surface;

(ii) operational safety, which entails the use of methods and processes aimed at preventing major accident events and occupational health and safety incidents; and

(iii) environmental protection, which calls for the adoption of methods and processes that minimise the impact of the Petroleum operations on the environment;

(i)    " Greater Sunrise Contractor " means all those individuals or bodies corporate holding from time to time a permit, lease, licence or contract in respect of an area within the Special Regime Area under which exploitation, including any appraisal activities related to that exploitation, and production of Petroleum may be carried out;

(j)    " Greater Sunrise Fields " means that part of the rock formation known as the Plover Formation (Upper and Lower) that underlies the Special Regime Area and contains the Sunrise and Troubadour deposits of Petroleum, together with any extension of those deposits that is in direct hydrocarbon fluid communication with either deposit;

(k)    " Greater Sunrise Production Sharing Contract " means the contract entered into in accordance with Article 4 of Annex B of this Treaty, between the Designated Authority and the Greater Sunrise Contractor for the development of, and production from, the Greater Sunrise Fields and replacing Production Sharing Contracts JPDA 03-19 and JPDA 03-20 and Retention Leases NT/RL2 and NT/RL4;

(l)    " International Unitisation Agreement " means the Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste relating to the Unitisation of the Sunrise and Troubadour Fields (Dili, 6 March 2003);

(m)    " Kitan Oil Field " means the field which, at the time of signing this Treaty, is subject to the Production Sharing Contract JPDA 06-105;

(n)    " Laminaria and Corallina Fields " means the fields known as Laminaria and Corallina which, at the time of the signing of this Treaty, lie partly in the AC/L5 and WA-18-L production licence areas;

(o)    " Petroleum " means:

(i) any naturally occurring hydrocarbon, whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state;

(ii) any naturally occurring mixture of hydrocarbons, whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state; or

(iii) any naturally occurring mixture of one or more hydrocarbons, whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state, as well as other gaseous substances produced in association with such hydrocarbons, including, but not limited to, helium, nitrogen, hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide; and

includes any Petroleum as defined by sub-paragraph (i) , (ii) or (iii) that has been returned to a natural reservoir;

(p)    " Petroleum Activities " means all activities undertaken to produce Petroleum, authorised or contemplated under a contract, permit or licence, and includes exploration, development, initial processing, production, transportation and marketing, as well as the planning and preparation for such activities;

(q)    " Pipeline " means any pipeline by which Petroleum is discharged from the Special Regime Area;

(r)    " Production Sharing Contract " means a contract between the Designated Authority, whether as established under this Treaty or as established under the Timor Sea Treaty, and a limited liability corporation or entity with limited liability under which production from a specified area is shared between the parties to the contract;

(s)    " Retention Leases " means the retention leases granted by Australia pursuant to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth) to individuals or bodies corporate, as renewed from time to time, referred to as Retention Lease NT/RL2 and Retention Lease NT/RL4;

(t)    " Special Regime Area " means the area of the continental shelf described in Annex C of this Treaty;

(u)    " Special Regime Installation " means any installation, structure or facility located within the Special Regime Area for the purposes of engaging in or conducting Petroleum Activities;

(v)    " Timor Sea Treaty " means the Timor Sea Treaty between the Government of East Timor and the Government of Australia (Dili, 20 May 2002); and

(w)    " Valuation Point " means the point of the first commercial sale of Petroleum produced from the Special Regime Area which shall occur no later than the earlier of:

(i) the point where the Petroleum enters a pipeline; and

(ii) the marketable petroleum commodity point for the Petroleum.

2    
Unless otherwise expressly provided, terms in this Treaty are to be given the same meaning as in the Convention.