S.I. No. 404/1996:

FUELS (PETROLEUM OILS) (AMENDMENT) (No. 2) ORDER, 1996.

FUELS (PETROLEUM OILS) (AMENDMENT) (No. 2) ORDER, 1996.

I, Emmet M.Stagg T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 (5) of the Fuels (Control of Supplies) Act, 1971 (No. 3 of 1971), the Tourism, Transport and Communications (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1993 ( S.I. No. 17 of 1993 ) and the Transport, Energy and Communications (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order, 1996 ( S.I. No. 395 of 1996 ), hereby make the following Order:

1. (1) This Order may be cited as the Fuels (Petroleum Oils) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order, 1996.

(2) This Order shall come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1997.

2. In this Order--

the "Principal Order" means the Fuels (Petroleum Oils) Order, 1983 ( S.I. No. 2 of 1983 );

the "Order of 1986" means the Fuels (Petroleum Oils) (Amendment) Order, 1986 ( S.I. No. 241 of 1986 );

the "Order of 1989" means the Fuels (Petroleum Oils) (Amendment) Order, 1989 ( S.I. No. 126 of 1989 );

the "Order of 1994" means the Fuels (Petroleum Oils) (Amendment) Order, 1994 ( S.I. No. 170 of 1994 ), and

the "Order of 1996" means the Fuels (Petroleum Oils) (Amendment) Order, 1996 ( S.I. No. 73 of 1996 ).

3. The Principal Order is hereby amended by the substitution for Article 3 (as amended by Article 4 of the Order of 1994) of the following Article:

"3. This Order applies to a person who imports into the State any of the following types of petroleum oil--

(a) gasoline,

(b) gas oil (which shall be deemed to include diesel)."

4. Article 4 of the Principal Order is hereby amended--

(a) in paragraph (1)--

(i) by the substitution of the following sub-paragraph for sub-paragraph (b):

"(b) The quantity of each type of petroleum oil to be purchased by a person under subparagraph (a) of this paragraph shall be equal to that percentage of that person's total requirements for the quarter concerned of that type of petroleum oil which the quantity of the output of the refinery specified by the Minister under Article 4(1)(d) of this Order in respect of that type for that quarter represents of the total requirements of that type for that quarter of all persons to whom this Order applies.";

(ii) by the insertion after sub-paragraph (c) (as inserted by Article 3 of the Order of 1996) of the following subparagraph:

"(d) The Minister shall, in respect of each quarter, specify for the purpose of Article 4(1)(b) of this Order a quantity of each type of petroleum oil specified in Article 3 of this Order, being a portion of the output of the refinery (as forecast by the Corporation) and shall inform the Corporation in writing of the quantities that the Minister has so specified not later than one month before the beginning of each quarter.",

(b) in paragraph (2), by the substitution for sub-paragraph (a) of the following sub-paragraph:

"(a) A person's total requirements of a type of petroleum oil shall be taken to be the total of the quantities of his consumption and of his disposal of that type of petroleum oil which he imports into the State or purchases from the Corporation but shall not include quantities which he supplies without payment of excise duty pursuant to Regulation 24 (1)(a)(i) of the European Communities (Customs and Excise) Regulations, 1992 ( S.I. No. 394 of 1992 ).", and

(c) by the substitution for paragraph (3) of the following paragraph:

"(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this article, the quantity of a type of petroleum oil specified in Article 3 of this Order which a person shall be required by this article to purchase from the Corporation in any quarter shall not exceed 20% of that person's requirement (as calculated or estimated under paragraph (2) of this Article) for that type of petroleum oil in the quarter concerned.".

5. Article 5 (as amended by Article 5 of the Order of 1994) of the Principal Order is hereby amended by the insertion after "Corporation" of "pursuant to this Order".

6. Article 7 of the Principal Order is hereby amended --

(a) in paragraph (1)--

(i) by the substitution for sub-paragraph (a) (as amended by Article 6 of the Order of 1986) of the following sub-paragraph

"(a) The Minister shall, in respect of each quarter, give to each person to whom this Order applies notice in writing of the quantities of each type of petroleum oil which that person is required by Article 4 of this Order to purchase from the Corporation and the Minister shall specify the quantities of each type of petroleum oil relating to each month in the quarter to which the notice relates in the same proportion as the number of days in each month bears to the number of days in that quarter, and such notice shall be given--

(i) not later than one month before the beginning of the quarter to which the requirement relates in the case of persons whose requirements are determined under Article 4(2)(c)(i) of this Order, and

(ii) as soon as reasonably practicable to persons whose requirements are estimated under Article 4(2)(c)(ii) of this Order.";

(ii) by the substitution for sub-paragraph (b) (as amended by Article 2 of the Order of 1989) of the following sub-paragraphs:

"(b) The Minister shall, in respect of each month of each quarter, determine for the purposes of this Order on an F.O.B. basis the formula to be applied for determining the price at which each type of petroleum oil required under this Order to be purchased from the Corporation shall be so purchased and the formula so determined shall be notified by the Minister in writing --

(i) before the beginning of each month of each quarter to persons whose requirements are determined under of Article 4(2)(c) (i) of this Order, and

(ii) as soon as reasonably practicable to persons whose requirements are estimated under Article 4(2)(c)(ii) of this Order.";

(iii) by the deletion from sub-paragraph (c) (as amended by Article 4 of the Order of 1996) of "(other than in the case of liquefied petroleum gas)";

(iv) by the insertion after sub-paragraph (c) of the following subparagraphs:

"(d) Within five working days of the end of each month, the Minister shall give to each person to whom this Order applies notice in writing of the prices, which may be fixed in the currency of the United States of America (hereinafter referred to as "U.S. dollars"), which apply to purchases in that month.

(e) Where the currency of the State is used instead of U.S. dollars as payment by a person in respect of whom this Order applies, the rate of exchange to be used in calculating the amount of the payment shall be such rate as the Corporation shall specify in accordance with the terms fixed by the Corporation under Article 4(1)(a) of this Order.";

(b)by the revocation of paragraph (2), and

(c) by the deletion in paragraph (3) of "other than fuel oil".

7. Any notice given by the Minister before the coming into operation of this Order that, if given under the Principal Order as amended by this Order, would have been validly made, shall be as valid and effectual as it would have been if this Order had been in operation at the time of the giving of the notice.

GIVEN under my hand, this 19th day of December, 1996.

Emmet M.Stagg,

Minister of State at the Department

of Transport, Energy and

Communications

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Order applies to persons who import into the State certain petroleum products either for their own use or for disposal in the State. Such persons are obliged to purchase a quantity of petroleum products, refined at the Whitegate oil refinery, from the Irish National Petroleum Corporation Limited (INPC).

This Order provides that persons to whom the Order applies are required to purchase up to 20% of their requirements from the INPC from 1 January 1997. (Before the coming into operation of this Order, the purchase requirement was 35%).