Petroleum - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition petroleum

Definition :

Petroleum, includes any mineral oil or relative hydrocarbon and natural gas existing in its natural condition in strata, but does not include coal or bituminous shales or other shales or other stratified deposits from which oil can be extracted by destructive distillation. [Petroleum (Production) Act, 1934 (UK)]

Includes any mineral oil or relative hydrocarbon and natural gas existing in its natural condition in strata, whether or not it has undergone any processing; but does not include coal or bituminous shales or other stratified deposits from which oil can be extracted by destructive distillation. [Pipelines Act, 1962 (UK)]

Petroleum, is an oily, inflammable liquid made up mostly of hydrocarbons compounds containing only hydrogen and carbon, the New Bank of Popular Science, Vol. 2; Special Reference No. 1 of 2001, In Re (2004) 4 SCC 489.

Means liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons are so intimately associated in nature that it has become customary to shorten the expression 'petroleum and natural gas' to 'petroleum' when referring to both, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th Edn., Vol. 19, p. 589 (1990).

Means naturally occurring hydrocarbons in a free state, whether in the from of natural gas or in a liquid viscous or solid from, but does not include helium occurring in association with petroleum, or coal, or shale, or any substance which may be extracted from coal, shale, or other rock by the application of heat or by a chemical process. [Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 1959, s. 3(k)]

Means naturally occurring substance consisting of a hydrocarbon or mixture of hydrocarbons in gaseous, liquid or solid state but does not include coal or shale unless occurring in circumstances in which the use of techniques for coal seam methane production or in situ gasification would be appropriate. [Petroleum Act, 2000, s. 4, Australia]

Means--(i) any naturally occurring hydrocarbon or mixture of hydrocarbons, whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state; or (ii) any naturally occurring mixture of a hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons and of another substance or other substances, whether in a gaseous, liquid or solid state, Liquid Fuel Emergency Act, 1984, s. 3.

Petroleum. The landing, carriage, and storage of petroleum, a highly inflammable oil, is regulated by the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act, 1928 (18 & 19 Geo. 5, c. 32); under which petroleum includes crude petroleum, oil made from petroleum or from coal, shale, peat or other bituminous substances, and other products of petroleum; and 'petroleum spirit' means such petroleum which when tested in the manner set out in the schedule gives off an inflammable vapour at a temperature of less than 73' Fahrenheit. The Act also prohibits the keeping of petroleum without a licence (except a small amount in sealed cans for private use). Accidents causing loss of life by petroleum must be reported to the Secretary of State.

The (English) Petroleum (Production) Act, 1934 (24 & 25 Geo. 5, c. 36), vests in the Crown the property in petroleum and natural gas within Great Britain and makes provision with respect to the searching and boring for petroleum. It prohibits the boring for petroleum in the United Kingdom unless on behalf of or under licence for the Crown. Petroleum for the purposes of this Act includes any mineral oil or relative hydrocarbon and natural gas existing in its natural condition in strata, but does not include coal or bituminous shales or other stratified deposits from which oil can be extracted by destructive distillation.

See also London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1912, Part II.; London Building Act, 1930, s. 99; and EXPLOSIVE SUBSTANCES; OIL IN NAVIGABLE WATERS; MOTOR SPIRIT; and Chitty's Statutes, tit. 'Petroleum.'