Title: wetten.nl - Regeling - Verdrag tussen het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden en het Verenigd Koninkrijk van Groot-Brittannië en Noord-Ierland inzake de exploitatie van het Sillimanite-veld - BWBV0006753

Source: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBV0006753/

Content:
{"title": "wetten.nl - Regeling - Verdrag tussen het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden en het Verenigd Koninkrijk van Groot-Brittanni\u00eb en Noord-Ierland inzake de exploitatie van het Sillimanite-veld - BWBV0006753", "content": "Verdrag tussen het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden en het Verenigd Koninkrijk van Groot-Brittanni\u00eb\n                           en Noord-Ierland inzake de exploitatie van het Sillimanite-veld\n\nThe Kingdom of the Netherlands\n\nand\n\nthe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,\n\nhereinafter referred to as \u201cthe Parties\u201d;\n\nConsidering that there is a gas field, known as the Sillimanite Field, which extends\n                                       across the dividing line as defined in the Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Government\n                                          of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland relating to the Delimitation\n                                          of the Continental Shelf under the North Sea between the two Countries, done at London on 6 October 1965;\n\nHaving regard to the Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Government\n                                          of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland relating to the Exploitation\n                                          of single geological structures extending across the Dividing Line on the Continental\n                                          Shelf under the North Sea, done at London on 6 October 1965 under which the Parties have undertaken to seek\n                                       agreement as to the manner in which any such structure or field shall be most effectively\n                                       exploited and the manner in which the costs and proceeds relating thereto shall be\n                                       apportioned;\n\nDesiring therefore to make an agreement about the exploitation of the Sillimanite\n                                       Field and the rights and obligations of the Parties in relation thereto;\n\nConsidering that the Licensees have the intention to exploit the Sillimanite Field\n                                       by a platform on the Dutch Continental Shelf;\n\nHave agreed as follows:\n\nFor the purposes of this Agreement:\n\n\u2013 \u201cCompetent Authority\u201d refers to a body exercising certain functions on behalf of the\n                                             Party for the implementation of this Agreement. In the United Kingdom, this means\n                                             the Oil and Gas Authority (the OGA) which has been granted a range of powers to exercise\n                                             functions and in the Netherlands, this means the Minister of Economic Affairs and\n                                             Climate Policy. In both cases, this includes any successor organisation authorised\n                                             to perform the relevant functions at present exercised by said authorities;\n\n\u2013 \u201cDevelopment Plan\u201d means a programme specifying the relevant works, that may be amended\n                                             from time to time, and which the relevant Competent Authority has approved or served\n                                             on the Licensee for the exploitation of the Sillimanite Field;\n\n\u2013 \u201cLicensee\u201d means the holder of a licence issued by one of the Parties or their relevant\n                                             Competent Authority to exploit the part of the Sillimanite Field on the Continental\n                                             Shelf appertaining to that Party, together with any individual or body corporate appointed\n                                             by that Party or their relevant Competent Authority to participate on its behalf in\n                                             the exploitation of that part;\n\n\u2013 \u201cLicensees\u2019 Agreement\u201d means the agreement which is, or will be, entered into by the\n                                             Licensees for the exploitation of the Sillimanite Field;\n\n\u2013 \u201cRedetermination\u201d means a review of the levels of hydrocarbons contained in the Sillimanite\n                                             Field in accordance with the Licensees\u2019 Agreement, which may be followed by a re-establishment\n                                             of the allocation of such hydrocarbons and unit interests between the Licensees;\n\n\u2013 \u201cSillimanite Field\u201d means the gas field in the area delimited in the Annex to this Agreement; and\n\n\u2013 \u201cUnit Operator\u201d has the meaning given in Article 2(3).\n\n1 The exploitation of the Sillimanite Field shall be undertaken in accordance with the\n                                             terms of this Agreement.\n\n2 Each Party shall require or ensure that their relevant Competent Authority requires\n                                             its Licensees to conclude a Licensees\u2019 Agreement with the Licensees of the other Party.\n                                             The Licensees\u2019 Agreement, as well as any proposal to amend, modify or otherwise change,\n                                             or to waive or depart from, the provisions of the Licensees\u2019 Agreement, including\n                                             the apportionment of benefits and costs of the Sillimanite Field, shall require the\n                                             approval of the Parties or their Competent Authorities before any such proposal may\n                                             be implemented by the Licensees. In the event that a Redetermination is undertaken\n                                             in accordance with the Licensees\u2019 Agreement, any statement or instrument issued by\n                                             the Unit Operator documenting any change shall not become effective unless and until\n                                             both Parties or their Competent Authorities have approved that statement or instrument.\n\n3 A unit operator shall be appointed by agreement between the Licensees as their joint\n                                             agent for the purpose of exploiting the Sillimanite Field in accordance with this\n                                             Agreement (the \u201cUnit Operator\u201d). The appointment of and any change to the Unit Operator\n                                             shall be subject to prior approval by the Parties or the Parties\u2019 relevant Competent\n                                             Authority.\n\n4 Production shall not commence until the Development Plan for the Sillimanite Field\n                                             has been approved by the Parties or the Parties\u2019 relevant Competent Authority.\n\n5 Drilling, maintenance and suspension of boreholes from an installation on the Sillimanite\n                                             Field under the United Kingdom Continental Shelf shall be considered to fall under\n                                             Dutch legislation. Both Parties shall be informed or ensure that the relevant Competent\n                                             Authority is informed by the Unit Operator of the exact position of each borehole.\n\n6 Profits and capital gains arising from the Sillimanite Field shall be taxed in accordance\n                                             with the laws of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands respectively, including the\n                                             Convention between the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Government\n                                                of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the Avoidance of Double\n                                                Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and\n                                                on Capital Gains, done at London on 26 September 2008, the Protocol done at London on 12 June 2013\n                                             and any Protocol or Protocols to that Convention or any Convention replacing that\n                                             Convention as may be signed in the future.\n\n7 Neither Party or its relevant Competent Authority shall permit production from the\n                                             Sillimanite Field until the respective tax authorities of the two Parties have reached\n                                             agreement regarding the taxation of the profits and gains arising from such production.\n\n1\n\na) Before production of gas from the Sillimanite Field is scheduled to commence, the\n                                                   Unit Operator needs approval of each Party or their relevant Competent Authority for\n                                                   the measurement systems used to determine the quantities and value of gas won and\n                                                   saved from the Sillimanite Field.\n\nb) Each Party or their relevant Competent Authority shall require its Licensees to provide\n                                                   access to relevant information including design and operational details of all systems\n                                                   relevant to the measurement of gas originating from the Sillimanite Field to that\n                                                   Party or its relevant Competent Authority.\n\nc) The inspectors of the Parties or their Competent Authority shall have the right to\n                                                   inspect the relevant measurement systems to ensure that their interests are safeguarded.\n\nd) An inspector of the United Kingdom or the Competent Authority, who shall be accompanied\n                                                   by an inspector of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, shall be given access in due time\n                                                   to measuring systems for gas originating from the Sillimanite Field.\n\ne) The United Kingdom or its Competent Authority shall inform the Kingdom of the Netherlands\n                                                   about the names of the inspectors of the United Kingdom who will inspect the measuring\n                                                   systems.\n\n2 The Parties shall ensure a free flow of information between them and their Competent\n                                             Authority about matters relating to the exploitation of the Sillimanite Field.\n\n3 The Parties shall consult, at the request of either of them, on any matter relating\n                                             to the interpretation, application or operation of this Agreement, including any unreasonable\n                                             delay in giving approval under Article 2(2), Article 2(3), Article 2(4) or Article 3(4).\n\n4 The Parties shall also consult or ensure that their relevant Competent Authority consults,\n                                             at the request of either of them, in the event that it is proposed that a permanent\n                                             installation for the exploitation of the Sillimanite Field shall be placed on the\n                                             Continental Shelf appertaining to the United Kingdom, and shall jointly agree or arrange\n                                             the extent to which the provisions of this Agreement shall apply in that event. Both\n                                             Parties shall be informed or ensure that their relevant Competent Authority is informed\n                                             by the Unit Operator of the exact position of any installations used for the exploitation\n                                             of the Sillimanite Field and shall ensure that no installation shall be placed within\n                                             125 meters of the maritime boundary between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands,\n                                             except with the agreement of both Parties.\n\n5 The Parties recognise that the exploitation and transmission of gas other than gas\n                                             from the Sillimanite Field is a legitimate use of the Sillimanite infrastructure.\n                                             The Parties shall also therefore consult or ensure that their relevant Competent Authority\n                                             consults, at the request of either of them, in the event that one of them considers\n                                             that an area of the continental shelf lying outside the Sillimanite Field would appropriately\n                                             be exploited in an integrated manner together with the Sillimanite Field, and shall\n                                             jointly seek to agree on appropriate amendments to this Agreement in that event. Neither\n                                             Party shall permit such integrated exploitation or transmission unless the respective\n                                             tax authorities of the two Governments have reached agreement regarding the taxation\n                                             of the profits and gains arising from the use of the Sillimanite Field\u2019s infrastructure\n                                             in respect of such integrated exploitation and transmission.\n\n6 The Competent Authorities of the Parties may jointly enter into technical or administrative\n                                             arrangements relating to the implementation of this Agreement or otherwise in connection\n                                             with the exploitation of the Sillimanite Field.\n\n7 The Parties shall in the first instance seek to resolve any disputes about the interpretation,\n                                             application or operation of this Agreement through consultation in accordance with\n                                             paragraph (3) above, but if the dispute cannot be resolved in this manner the dispute\n                                             shall be submitted at the request of either Party, to an Arbitral Tribunal composed\n                                             as follows:\n\nEach Party shall designate one arbitrator, and the two arbitrators so designated shall\n                                             elect a third, who shall be the Chairman and who shall not be a national of or habitually\n                                             reside in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or the Kingdom\n                                             of the Netherlands. If either Party fails to designate an arbitrator within three\n                                             months of a request to do so, either Party may request the President of the International\n                                             Court of Justice to appoint an arbitrator. The same procedure shall apply if, within\n                                             one month of the designation or appointment of the second arbitrator, the third arbitrator\n                                             has not been elected. The Tribunal shall determine its own procedure, save that all\n                                             decisions shall be taken, in the absence of unanimity, by majority vote of the members\n                                             of the Tribunal. The decisions of the Tribunal shall be final and binding upon the\n                                             Parties.\n\n8 Nothing in this Agreement shall be interpreted as affecting the jurisdiction which\n                                             each Party has under international law over the Continental Shelf which appertains\n                                             to it. In particular, any part of the Sillimanite Field located on the Continental\n                                             Shelf appertaining to the United Kingdom shall be under the jurisdiction of the United\n                                             Kingdom and any part of the Sillimanite Field located on the Continental Shelf appertaining\n                                             to the Kingdom of the Netherlands shall be under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of\n                                             the Netherlands.\n\n9 Apart from the Article 2(5), nothing in this Agreement shall be interpreted as prejudicing or restricting the\n                                             application of the laws of either Party, in conformity with international law.\n\n10 Nothing in this Agreement shall be interpreted as prejudicing or restricting the exercise\n                                             of jurisdiction by the courts of either Party, in conformity with international law.\n\n1 This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of signature.\n\n2 The Parties may amend or terminate this Agreement at any time by agreement.\n\n3 The Annex shall form an integral part of this Agreement.\n\nIN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, duly authorised thereto by their respective Governments,\n                                    have signed this Agreement.\n\nDONE in duplicate at The Hague, this 19th day of July 2018, in the English language.\n\nFor the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,\n\nM.R.P.M. CAMPS\n\nFor the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,\n\nP. WILSON\n\nThe area of the Sillimanite Field is bounded by a line joining, in the sequence shown,\n                                       the points set out below defined by coordinates of latitude and longitude on WGS 84\n                                       Datum:\n\nPoint\n\nLatitude\n\nLongitude\n\nA\n\n54 degrees 26\u2019 16.918\u201dN\n\n2 degrees 45\u2019 6.862\u201dE\n\nB\n\n54 degrees 25\u2019 44.997\u201dN\n\n2 degrees 49\u2019 11.221\u201dE\n\nC\n\n54 degrees 24\u2019 42.978\u201dN\n\n2 degrees 49\u2019 29.450\u201dE\n\nD\n\n54 degrees 23\u2019 32.056\u201dN\n\n2 degrees 46\u2019 19.932\u201dE"}