Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006

Amendment of section 10B of Act of 1976.

18.— (1) Section 10B of the Gas Act 1976 is amended by the substitution for subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(1) (a) Subject to subsection (6) and subject to such exemptions as may be granted in accordance with Article 22 of the Directive, where an application is received for third party access in respect of an upstream pipeline from or on behalf of an eligible customer, the upstream pipeline operator shall offer to enter into an agreement for such access, subject to terms and conditions specified in regulations made by the Minister under subsection (3).

(b) In paragraph (a), ‘eligible customer’ means—

(i) the holder of a natural gas licence under section 16 of the Gas (Interim) (Regulation) Act 2002 , for the purpose of carrying out any activity for which the holder is licensed,

(ii) the holder of a petroleum lease under section 13 of the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act 1960 , for the purpose of carrying out any activity connected with the lease,

(iii) a person in respect of whom an order has been made under section 2(1) of the Gas (Amendment) Act 1987 , for the purpose of carrying out the functions conferred on the person by the order,

(iv) a person who operates a gas-fired generating station, irrespective of its annual consumption level, for the purpose of providing energy for the generation of electricity at that station,

(v) a customer purchasing natural gas which is not exclusively for his or her household use, and

(vi) subject to the provisions of section 18 (2) of the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006, with effect from the coming into operation of this subparagraph, any person.”.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this subsection, subparagraph (vi) of section 10B(1)(b) of the Gas Act 1976 (inserted by subsection (1)) shall come into operation on—

(a) such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different provisions or different purposes, or

(b) to the extent that subparagraph (vi) has not previously been commenced, the 1st day of July 2007,

whichever is the earlier.