Act No. XIV of 2015 – An Act to amend the Petroleum (Production) Act

(a) in sub-article (1) thereof, for the words "and boring for and getting such petroleum", there shall be substituted the words "or drilling or boring for or extracting such petroleum"; and

(b) sub-article (2) thereof shall be substituted by the following: VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA A 608 "(2) Any person who, without or in breach of any of the conditions of a licence granted under this Act, searches or drills or bores for or extracts petroleum on, under or from Malta shall be guilty, by reason merely of having done so and without prejudice to prosecution under any other provision of law, of an offence and shall be liable, on conviction to a fine (multa) of not less than ten thousand euro (€10,000) and not exceeding two million euro (€2,000,000) or imprisonment which shall not exceed a term of five years, or to both such fine and imprisonment: Provided that where the act constituting the offence subsists for more than one day, the Court may in addition impose a fine (multa) not exceeding ten thousand euro (€10,000) for each day during which such act subsists which fine (multa) shall also be applicable for the purposes Cap. 9. of article 377(3) of the Criminal Code: Provided further that all petroleum so extracted shall be forfeited to the Government of Malta and that nothing in this Act, howsoever referred to, shall be construed as imposing any penalty on any person where in the course of lawful boring in search of water or of other lawful operations, petroleum is set free.". Amendment of 3. Article 5 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows: article 5 of the principal Act. (a) the present article shall be renumbered as sub-article (1) thereof; (b) in the Maltese version of sub-article (1) thereof, as renumbered, for the word "tfittix" there shall be substituted the word "tiftix";

(c) in sub-article (1) thereof, as renumbered, immediately after the words "petroleum resources of Malta," there shall be added the words "regulations which reduce as far as possible the occurrence of major accidents relating to offshore oil and gas operations and to limit their consequences during such exploration, prospecting and mining,";

(d) immediately after paragraph (e) of sub-article (1) VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA A 609 thereof, as renumbered, for the words from "and may provide for establishing" to the words "for the purposes of article 377(3) of the Criminal Code.", there shall be substituted the following: "and may provide for the minimum and maximum punishments, whether by way of fine (multa) or of imprisonment, to be applied in respect of any non- observance of any regulation made under this article: Provided that any punishment prescribed in the regulations made under this article shall not be less than a fine (multa) of ten thousand euro (€10,000) and shall not exceed a fine (multa) of two million euro (€2,000,000), or imprisonment which shall not exceed a term of five years, or both such fine and imprisonment, in respect of any non- observance of any such regulation: Provided further that where the act constituting the offence subsists for more than one day, the Court may in addition impose a fine (multa) not exceeding ten thousand euro (€10,000) for each day during which such act subsists which fine (multa) shall also be applicable for the purposes of article 377(3) of the Criminal Code: Provided further that the Minister may establish different regulations for different kinds of licences and provide conditions that bind licensees to be financially liable for any prevention and remediation of any damage, including damage to the environment, cause of exploration, prospecting and extraction of petroleum in Malta."; and

(e) immediately after sub-article (1) thereof, as renumbered, there shall be added the following new sub-article: "(2) Regulations, rules and orders made under any of the provisions of this Act may be made in the English language only.". VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA A 610 Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 266 of the 20th May, 2015. ANĠLU FARRUGIA Speaker RAYMOND SCICLUNA Clerk of the House of Representatives VERŻJONI ELETTRONIKA _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Ippubblikat mid-Dipartiment tal-Informazzjoni (doi.gov.mt) — Valletta — Published by the Department of Information (doi.gov.mt) — Valletta Mitbugħ fl-Istamperija tal-Gvern fuq karta riċiklata — Printed at the Government Printing Press on recycled paper Prezz/Price €0.54