(1)The Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979 (“the 1979 Act”) shall have effect in relation to such cases as may be specified in an order made by the Treasury as if references in that Act to hydrocarbon oil or to road fuel gas included references to any mineral oil which is designated by that order as a substance which is to be treated for the purposes of that Act as the equivalent of hydrocarbon oil or, as the case may be, of road fuel gas.
(2)The Treasury may by order provide, in relation to any substance which by virtue of this section is to be treated for the purposes of the 1979 Act as the equivalent of hydrocarbon oil, for that substance to be treated for the purposes of such of the provisions of that Act as may be specified in the order as if it fell within the description of such one or more of the following as may be so specified, that is to say—
(a)heavy oil or light oil, as defined in section 1 of that Act;
(b)aviation gasoline, as defined in section 6(4) of that Act;
(c)fuel oil or gas oil, as defined in section 11(2) of that Act; and
(d)unleaded petrol, as defined in section 13A(2) of that Act.
(3)In exercising their powers under this section, the Treasury shall so far as practicable secure that a mineral oil which is intended for, or capable of being put to, a particular use is treated for the purposes of the 1979 Act as if it were the substance falling within the descriptions specified in subsection (2) above to which, when put to that use, it is most closely equivalent.
(4)In this section “mineral oil” means any substance which—
(a)falls within the definition of mineral oil in Article 2.1 of the Directive of the Council of the European Communities dated 19th October 1992 No. 92/81/EEC (directive on the harmonisation of the structures of excise duties on mineral oils), as amended by the Directive of the Council dated 14th December 1992 No. 92/108/EEC; and
(b)is not, apart from this section, hydrocarbon oil or road fuel gas within the meaning of the 1979 Act.
(5)The power of the Treasury to make an order under this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Commons; and any such order may make different provision for different cases and different substances.
(6)No duty of excise shall be charged by virtue of section 7 of the 1979 Act (duty on petrol substitutes and power methylated spirits) on any substance on which duty is charged under that Act by virtue of an order under this section.