Cap. 156 чл. 5Powers of the Minister to make regulations.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and to any international obligation entered into by Government, the Minister may make regulations generally for:

(a) licensing and regulating the prospection, exploration and production of petroleum in Malta, including the conservation of the petroleum resources;

(b) establishing an Advisory Committee, made up of persons qualified in the relevant subject, to provide advice and make recommendations to the Minister for any matter concerning the granting of a licence, the regulation and monitoring of the contractual obligations and any other matter in relation to this Act;

(c) reducing as far as possible the occurrence of major accidents relating to offshore oil and gas operations and to limit their consequences during such prospection, exploration and production activities;

(d) providing for the possibility for the issue of authorisations to public officers or other entities to ensure the application of this Act and to carry out inspections, enforcement actions and any other ancillary action that may be necessary in order to properly implement the provisions of this Act; and

(e) carrying out any of the provisions of this Act:

Provided that, in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such regulations may prescribe:

(i) the manner in which and the entities by whom applications for licences under this Act may be made;

(ii) the fees to be paid on any such application;

(iii) the conditions as to the size and shape of areas in respect of which licences may be granted;

(iv) model clauses which shall, unless the Minister thinks fit to modify or exclude in any particular case, be incorporated in any such licence;

(v) anything which is required or may be prescribed under this Act, and may provide for the minimum and maximum punishments, whether by way of fine (multa) or of imprisonment, to be applied in respect of any non-observance of any regulation made under this article:

Provided further that any punishment prescribed in the regulations made under this article shall not be less than a fine (multa) of ten thousand euro (€10,000) and shall not exceed a fine (multa) of two million euro (€2,000,000), or imprisonment which shall not exceed a term of five years, or both such fine and imprisonment, in respect of any non-observance of any such regulation:

Provided further that where the act constituting the offence subsists for more than one day, the Court may in addition impose a fine (multa) not exceeding ten thousand euro (€10,000) for each day during which such act subsists which fine (multa) shall also be applicable for the purposes of article 377(3) of the Criminal Code:

Provided further that the Minister may establish different regulations for different kinds of licences and provide conditions that bind licencees to be financially liable for any prevention and remediation of any damage, including damage to the environment, caused by prospection, exploration and production of petroleum in Malta.

(2) Regulations, rules and orders made under any of the provisions of this Act may be made in the English language only.