Petroleum titles

About petroleum titles

The Northern Territory (NT) owns all reserves of petroleum - both onshore and in coastal waters in the NT.

The Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade administers and regulates petroleum tenure and activities in these areas.

This includes petroleum resource exploration and development and the construction and operation of oil and gas transmission pipelines.

The petroleum titles are governed by the following legislation:

  • the Petroleum Act 1984 which is the principal legislation dealing with petroleum tenure, exploration and production activities onshore and inland waters of the NT
  • the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981 which caters for tenure, exploration and production activities in the 3 nautical mile strip of NT coastal waters.

Petroleum titles in waters beyond the 3 mile limit come under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth). They are administered by the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA).

For more information about offshore petroleum, go to the NOPTA website.

Types of petroleum titles

There are 3 main types of petroleum titles:

  • petroleum exploration permit
  • petroleum retention licence or petroleum retention lease
  • petroleum production licence.

General information on the titles is provided below.

For their purpose, term and numbers of blocks, read more in the summary of petroleum title types.

Titles for exploration

You must hold a petroleum exploration permit to explore for petroleum (oil and gas) in the NT.

The permit gives you the exclusive right to explore for petroleum on your permit area. If approved by the minister under the Petroleum Act 1984, you may recover petroleum on an appraisal basis from the permit area.

The permit allows you to carry out:

  • exploratory operations for petroleum
  • operations to establish the nature and extent of a petroleum resource you discover and the feasibility of production.

Exploration activities includes:

  • airborne gravity and magnetic surveys
  • ground-based seismic surveys
  • well drilling.

When applying for an exploration permit, you must be aware of areas where the minister is unable to grant an exploration permit - such as reserves declared under the Petroleum Act 1984.

Additionally, before grant, the minister will need to comply with processes under the following legislation:

Read more about how to apply for a petroleum exploration permit.

Read more about petroleum reserved blocks.

Titles for retention and production

If you discover petroleum through a petroleum exploration permit, you can apply for a production licence. If the discovery is not yet commercially viable, you can apply  for a retention licence or lease.

These titles apply to both onshore and coastal water discoveries.

Retention licence/lease

You can apply for a retention licence or lease when you discover petroleum resources that have development potential, and are not currently commercially viable, but are likely to be viable within 10 to 15 years.

A licence or lease has an initial term of 5 years. It can be renewed for further 5-year periods provided the resource is still not commercially viable.

The licence or lease gives you the right to undertake operations and works to evaluate the development potential of the petroleum discovered on the interest area. If approved under the Petroleum Act 1984, you may recover petroleum on an appraisal basis from the retention licence area.

If you hold a retention licence or lease, you're expected to actively work towards making the discovered resource commercially viable. Special conditions to ensure this happens may be attached to the licence or lease.

Read about how to apply for a retention licence or lease.

Production licence

A petroleum production licence gives you the right to explore, test for and produce petroleum from within a licence area.

You have the right to carry out operations to recover petroleum within a licence area e.g. drilling a development well.

You must carry out any operations in accordance with an approved resource management, activity and infrastructure plan.

The initial term for a production licence is 21 or 25 years. A licence can be renewed for further 21 or 25 year periods.

Read more about how to apply for a production licence.

Conditions on a petroleum title

There are common conditions which apply to all petroleum titles in the NT as well as conditions that are specific to each type of permit, licence or lease.

For tenure, exploration and production activities on land and in inland waters, you must follow the requirements of the Petroleum Act 1984.

For tenure, exploration and production activities in coastal waters up to 3 miles from the coast, you must follow the requirements of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981.

You must also abide by the associated regulations and any special directions or conditions attached to your title. This includes the Petroleum (Environment) Regulations 2016 and the Petroleum Regulations 2020.

General conditions

Once you have been granted a petroleum title, you must:

  • actively conduct authorised activities in the title area
  • conduct operations in accordance with good oilfield practice and the approved technical works program
  • comply with all requirements under the applicable laws and any other laws in force in the NT
  • comply with other title conditions imposed at the time your title is granted.

You must not do any of the following:

  • disturb improvements or existing roads without the written consent of the landowner
  • use water that a landowner has artificially conserved without the owner's written permission - e.g. dam
  • interfere with any animals owned by or under the control of the landowner.

Petroleum titles advertising, notices and searches

This page has information about:

Notices

The department publishes notices in the Northern Territory (NT) Government Gazette announcing the grant, renewal or cessation of a petroleum title.

Notices are also made where land is reserved from being the subject of a grant of a petroleum exploration permit or licence.

Read the Government Gazettes.

Advertising

The department advertises all applications for the grant of a petroleum exploration permit.

Advertisements also appear in the NT Government Gazette, NT News and, depending on the application, the Koori Mail.

Searches

You can get details of granted petroleum titles and dealings in the NT through the petroleum register.

Extracts of the register and associated documents are available for a fee.

How to search

If you want to conduct a search of the register, you can:

Contact

For more information, contact Energy Titles by calling 08 8999 5263 or emailing energytitles.ditt@nt.gov.au

Petroleum titles compliance and penalties

The holder of a petroleum title must meet all conditions and obligations related to a title.

If you don't comply with the conditions of your title, or the provisions of the Petroleum Act 1984 or Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981, you may:

  • be charged a fee or interest
  • receive an infringement notice
  • be prosecuted
  • have your titles cancelled.

Fees

You will be charged a late lodgement fee for failing to submit on time:

  • an annual report
  • a survey and other reports
  • well completion report.

Interest

You will be charged interest on annual fees and the orphan well levy if you don't pay within one month after the amount is due.

Infringement notice

Infringement notice offences are listed in schedule 4 of the Petroleum Regulations 2020. For example, you may receive an infringement notice for failing to:

  • provide another title holder with a report of operations carried on under an access authority over that title holder’s permit or licence area
  • comply with a direction to provide additional information about a petroleum discovery after notification
  • submit a final report for a surrendered permit or licence area
  • conduct an activity in a way that complies with an approved well operations management plan, field management plan or petroleum surface infrastructure plan.

Prosecution

You can be prosecuted if you do any of the following:

  • breach title conditions
  • contravene or fail to comply with the law or a direction or notice under the law
  • interfere with authorised activities or rights
  • obstruct an official doing their job.

For more detailed information about offences and penalties refer to the Petroleum Act 1984 or the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981.

Licence cancellation

As an alternative to prosecution, you may have all or any of the blocks of a permit or licence cancelled if you have:

  • not complied with a condition of a title
  • not complied with a provision of the Act
  • not paid the annual fees within 3 months after the due date
  • been found guilty of an offence against the Act.

Read more about the laws and regulations.

Petroleum titles fees and rents

Find application fees below for petroleum titles, permits and licences, annual rent and administration fees, miscellaneous fees and advertising costs.

You can also find application fees related to land access agreements.

All fees and rents have been converted from revenue units. A revenue unit is worth $1.35 as of 1 July 2023, and may change on that date each year.

Monetary value is subject to indexation under the Revenue Units Act 2009.

For more information, read about revenue units.

You must pay a fee when you apply or renew a petroleum title.

Application fees are not refunded if the application is withdrawn or refused. Applications will not be accepted without correct payment.

Title type

Petroleum Act 1984

Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981

Geothermal Energy Act 2009

Energy Pipelines Act 1981

Exploration permit/pipeline permit

$21,259

$5,784

$5,578

$5,400

Application to approve recovery of petroleum on an appraisal basis$24,513—

—

—

Retention licence/lease

$23,630

$1,927

$11,156

—

Production licence/lease

$49,026

$1,927

$55,784

—

Pipeline licence

—

$5,784

—

$5,400

Access authority

$6,758

—

—

—

Special prospecting authority

—

$792

—

—

Renewal - exploration permit

$11,048

$1,927

$5,578

—

Renewal - retention licence/lease

$10,917

$1,927

$11,156

—

Renewal - production licence/lease

$9,005

$1,927

—

—

Renewal - pipeline licence

—

—

—

$1,927

Variation, suspension, extension - exploration permit

$8,145

—

$222

—

Variation, suspension, extension - retention licence/lease

$8,455

—

—

—

Variation, suspension, extension - production licence/lease

$6,543

—

—

—

Variation - pipeline licence

—

$792

—

$1,891

Surrender - exploration permit/licence

$1,027

—

—

—

You must pay the annual rent on a title, each year that a petroleum title remains valid. Payment is due before the anniversary of the grant date. These fees are GST exempt.

The title will be cancelled if you don't pay the annual rent.

Title type

Petroleum Act 1984

Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981

Geothermal Energy Act 2009

Energy Pipelines 
Act 1981

Exploration permit - per block

$587

$84 / $1,500 minimum fee

$22 - year 1,2,3,4 and 5
$44 - year 6,7,8,9 and 10
$89 - each remaining year

—

Retention licence/lease - per block

$12,710

$12,075

$222

—

Production licence/lease - per block

$15,525

$18,000

$2,231

—

Pipeline licence

—

$120 per km

—

$630 minimum fee - refer to formula below

Formula is A = B x C x D.  
A is the fee payable, B is the prescribed unit amount (currently 90 cents), C is the average internal pipeline diameter expressed in metres, D is the pipeline length expressed in metres.

You must pay registration fees for the following transactions.

Transaction type

Petroleum Act 1984

Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981

Geothermal Energy Act 2009

Energy Pipelines Act 1981

Transfer of title

$2,610

1.5% or $1,156 minimum fee

$837

$230

Transfer of interest in an application$1,910

—

—

—

Transfer of title – related corporations

—

$5,784

$7,837

$230

Application to approve change in control$1,910

—

—

—

Approval of dealing - that creates or assigns an interest in a title

$222

1.5% or $1,156 minimum fee

Caveat $112

$230

Devolution of title (devolved by operation of law)

$76

$114

$279

$47

Transaction  type

Petroleum Act 1984

Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981

Geothermal Energy Act 2009

Energy Pipelines Act 1981

An inspection of register and other instruments

$25

$25

$16

$8

A copy/extract of register or other instrument (per page)

$8

$5.75

$5

$21

A certificate issued by the registrar

$44

$37

$28

$113

Information in or accompanying an application (S 61(2))

$76

—

—

—

Change of name

—

$114

—

—

Late lodgement of annual reports

$135 for each week or part of a week

—

Later than 28 days but within 56 days - $112

Later than 56 days but within 84 days - $669

Later than 84 days but within 112 days - $1,227

Later than 112 days - $1,227 plus $557 for each

—

You must pay the cost of advertising your petroleum title application in the newspaper.

The department advertises all applications in the NT News. Some applications may also be advertised in the Koori Mail, depending on the tenure of the land and where it is.

The department arranges the advertising. You will be invoiced for the cost once the application has been published in the newspaper.

You must pay a fee when you make certain applications related to land access agreements.

Application fees are not refunded if the application is withdrawn or refused.

Applications will not be accepted without correct payment.

Transaction typePetroleum Regulations 2020
Application for approval of access agreement$1,541
Application to register access agreement$899
Application to inspect access agreement register$25
Application for certified copy or certificate from register$44
Application for approval or registration of variation$1,541
Application for registration of variation of access agreement
by order of the tribunal		$899
Application for registration of agreement under transitional provisions$1,541

Petroleum titles objections and disputes

This page has information on the process followed for objections to granting petroleum titles or disputes resulting from exploration or production activities.

Submissions and objections

The minister must publish a notice in the newspaper and online before releasing blocks for exploration.

The notice must invite applications for the grant of an exploration permit, and submissions about the release of the specified blocks within the application period set out in the notice.

Anyone can make a submission about the release of blocks, but the content of submissions is limited to whether:

  • petroleum exploration can coexist with current or proposed industries
  • the land of a specified block is suitable to petroleum exploration.

A submission can suggest that the proposed blocks of land are not suitable for exploration because the land is:

  • subject to intensive agriculture
  • of high ecological value
  • of high scenic value
  • culturally significant
  • of strategic importance to nearby residential areas.

The minister must consider all submissions and any applications received before deciding which blocks to release for exploration.

After a decision is made

Once the decision is made, the minister must publish the decision and the reasons why the blocks are appropriate for exploration online.

The minister must then publish a notice in the newspaper outlining details of an exploration permit application and inviting written objections to the grant of the permit within 2 months of publication.

Anyone may submit an objection to the grant of an exploration permit.

All objections must be provided to the applicant, and published online as soon as possible after they are received. Applicants may provide the minister with additional information in response to any objections.

The minister must consider any objections and responses from the applicant when making the decision to grant or refuse to grant an exploration permit.

Petroleum titles

The Petroleum Act 1984, identifies a number of decisions made under the Act are reviewable decisions, and sets out who an interested person is for each decision.

An interested person can apply to the tribunal for review of a reviewable decision, such as:

  • a decision to release blocks
  • grant of an exploration permit
  • refusal of an application to transfer a title.

The tribunal reviews the merits of the decision that has been made and determines a correct and preferable decision.

It might:

  • confirm the decision
  • vary the decision
  • make a new decision
  • refer the decision back to the decision-maker for reconsideration.

How to apply to NTCAT

Applications to Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NTCAT) should be made using the tribunal's form 3 ordinary application, along with the required fee.

Get the form and information about fees on the NTCAT website.