Corporation Tax Act 2010

Interpretation U.K.

[F1 349A Additionally-developed oil field” U.K.

(1) In this Chapter an oil field is an “additionally-developed oil field” if—

(a) a national authority has authorised a project described in an addendum to the consent for development for the oil field, and

(b) the project meets such conditions as may be specified in an order made by the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

(2) In this section—

• “consent for development”, in relation to an oil field, does not include consent which is limited to the purpose of testing the characteristics of an oil-bearing area,

• “development”, in relation to an oil field, means winning oil from the field otherwise than in the course of searching for oil or drilling wells, and

• “national authority” means—

  (a)

  the Secretary of State, or

  (b)

  a Northern Ireland department.

(3) An order under this section may include provision having effect in relation to times before it is made, provided that it does not increase any person's liability to tax.

(4) No order may be made under this section unless a draft of the statutory instrument containing it has been laid before and approved by a resolution of the House of Commons.]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 349A inserted (17.7.2012) by Finance Act 2012 (c. 14), Sch. 22 paras. 15, 21(2)

[F2 350 New oil field” U.K.

(1) In this Chapter “ new oil field ” means an oil field—

(a) which is a qualifying oil field, and

(b) whose development (in whole or in part) is authorised for the first time on or after 22 April 2009.

(2) If all assets of an oil field which are relevant assets have been decommissioned, there is to be ignored for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) any authorisation in respect of that oil field which occurs before that decommissioning.

(3) Sub-paragraphs (2) to (9) of paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 to OTA 1975 apply for the purpose of determining whether relevant assets of an oil field are decommissioned as they apply for the purpose of determining whether qualifying assets of a relevant area are decommissioned.

(4) For the purposes of this section, an asset is a relevant asset of an oil field if—

(a) it has at any time been a qualifying asset (within the meaning of the Oil Taxation Act 1983) in relation to any participator in the field, and

(b) it has at any time been used for the purpose of winning oil from the field.]

Textual Amendments

F2 S. 350 substituted (with effect in accordance with s. 63(4) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2011 (c. 11), s. 63(2)

351 “Authorisation of development of an oil field” U.K.

(1) In this Chapter a reference to authorisation of development of an oil field is a reference to a national authority—

(a) granting a licensee consent for development for the field,

(b) serving on a licensee a programme of development for the field, or

(c) approving a programme of development for the field.

(2) In this section—

• “consent for development”, in relation to an oil field, does not include consent which is limited to the purpose of testing the characteristics of an oil-bearing area,

• “development”, in relation to an oil field, means winning oil from the field otherwise than in the course of searching for oil or drilling wells, and

• “national authority” means—

  (a)

  the Secretary of State, or

  (b)

  a Northern Ireland department.

352 “Qualifying oil field” U.K.

In this Chapter “qualifying oil field” means an oil field that is, on the authorisation day—

(a) a small oil field,

(b) an ultra heavy oil field, or

(c) an ultra high pressure/high temperature oil field.

353 “Small oil field” U.K.

(1) In this Chapter “small oil field” means an oil field which has reserves of oil of 3,500,000 tonnes or less.

(2) For the purposes of this section and section 356(2)—

(a) the amount of reserves of oil which an oil field has is to be determined on the authorisation day, and

(b) 1,100 cubic metres of gas at a temperature of 15 degrees celsius and pressure of one atmosphere is to be counted as equivalent to one tonne.

354 “Ultra heavy oil field” U.K.

(1) In this Chapter “ultra heavy oil field” means an oil field with oil at—

(a) an API gravity below 18 degrees, and

(b) a viscosity of more than 50 centipoise at reservoir temperature and pressure.

(2) For that purpose API gravity, in relation to oil, is the amount determined by the following calculation—

where G is the specific gravity of the oil at 15.56 degrees celsius.

355 “Ultra high pressure/high temperature oil field” U.K.

In this Chapter “ultra high pressure/high temperature oil field” means an oil field with oil at—

(a) a pressure of more than [F3 862] bar in the reservoir formation, and

(b) a temperature of more than [F4 166] degrees celsius in the reservoir formation.

Textual Amendments

F3 Figure in s. 355(a) substituted (with effect in accordance with art. 1(2) of the amending S.I.) by The Qualifying Oil Fields Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/1899), arts. 1(2), 3(a)

F4 Figure in s. 355(b) substituted (with effect in accordance with art. 1(2) of the amending S.I.) by The Qualifying Oil Fields Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/1899), arts. 1(2), 3(b)

356 “Total field allowance for a new oil field” U.K.

(1) For the purposes of this Chapter, the total field allowance for a new oil field is—

(a) in the case of a small oil field, the amount determined in accordance with subsection (2),

(b) in the case of an ultra heavy oil field, £800,000,000, and

(c) in the cases of an ultra high pressure/high temperature oil field, [F5 the amount determined in accordance with subsection (3)].

(2) The total field allowance for a small oil field is—

(a) if the oil field has reserves of oil of 2,750,000 tonnes or less, £75,000,000, and

(b) in any other case (where the oil field has reserves of more than 2,750,000 tonnes but not more than 3,500,000 tonnes), the following amount—

where X is the amount of the reserves of oil (in tonnes) which the oil field has.

[F6 (3) The total field allowance for an ultra high pressure/high temperature oil field is—

(a) £800,000,000, if the temperature of oil in the reservoir formation is more than 176.67 degrees celsius, and

(b) if the temperature of oil in the reservoir formation is more than 166 degrees celsius but not more than 176.67 degrees celsius, the sum of £500,000,000 and an amount calculated as follows—

where X is the number of complete hundredths of a degree celsius by which the temperature of oil in the reservoir formation exceeds 166 degrees celsius.]

Textual Amendments

F5 Words in s. 356(1)(c) substituted (with effect in accordance with art. 1(2) of the amending S.I.) by The Qualifying Oil Fields Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/1899), arts. 1(2), 4(2)

F6 S. 356(3) inserted (with effect in accordance with art. 1(2) of the amending S.I.) by The Qualifying Oil Fields Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/1899), arts. 1(2), 4(3)

357 Other definitions U.K.

In this Chapter—

• “adjusted ring fence profits”, in relation to a company and an accounting period, means the adjusted ring fence profits that would (if this Chapter were ignored) be taken into account in calculating the supplementary charge on the company under section 330(1) for the accounting period,

• “authorisation day”, in relation to a new oil field, means the day when development of the field is authorised [F7 as mentioned in section 350(1)(b)],

• [F8 “eligible oil field” means an oil field which is an additionally-developed oil field or a new oil field,]

• “initial licensee”, in relation to a new oil field, means a company that is licensee in the field on the authorisation day,

• “licensee” has the same meaning as in Part 1 of OTA 1975, and

• “relevant income”, in relation to a new oil field and an accounting period of a company, means production income of the company from any oil extraction activities carried on in the field that is taken into account in calculating the company's adjusted ring fence profits for the accounting period.

Textual Amendments

F7 Words in s. 357 inserted (with effect in accordance with s. 63(4) of the amending Act) by Finance Act 2011 (c. 11), s. 63(3)

F8 Words in s. 357 inserted (17.7.2012) by Finance Act 2012 (c. 14), Sch. 22 paras. 16(3), 21(2)