Petroleum royalties

The Northern Territory (NT) Government owns all the petroleum resources in the Territory.

Petroleum companies must pay the government for the extraction and removal of petroleum resources. This payment is known as a royalty.

The amount of royalties they pay depends on how much petroleum they recover or produce from their petroleum interest area.

Changes to the Act

From 1 July 2023, the Petroleum Royalty Act 2023 will commence. This Act will remove sections related to royalties from the Petroleum Act 1984.

The Petroleum Royalty Act 2023 establishes a new set of rules for calculating, paying, and managing onshore petroleum royalties in the NT.

It applies to:

petroleum interests granted under the Petroleum Act 1984
any lease granted or renewed under the repealed Petroleum (Mining and Prospecting) Act 1954 that is still in effect under the Petroleum Act 1984.

The Treasurer and the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) are responsible for administering petroleum royalties.