98 Inspection of land, accounts etc
(1) The Director-General and any inspector, geologist or other officer authorised by the Director-General for the purposes of this Part is to have access, at all reasonable hours, to:(a) land subject to a petroleum title, or the subject of an easement or right of way under this Act, and to all buildings, structures and equipment and works situated on the land, and(b) all books, accounts, documents and other records, whether in or on such land or any other land, relating to any such title or easement or right of way and the operations carried on under the title, easement or right of way.(2) Such access is to be gained for the purpose of:(a) examining and inspecting the land concerned and any such books, accounts, documents and records, and(b) in the case of the books, accounts, documents and records, of making copies of them or taking extracts from them, and(c) ascertaining whether the requirements of the title and of this Act are being observed.
(1) An officer of the Department authorised by the Director-General for the purposes of this Part, or a registered surveyor so authorised, may at all reasonable times enter any land with such assistants as he or she may think necessary:(a) for the purpose of carrying out any survey, or(b) for the purpose of defining any road, or(c) for the purpose of carrying out a geological or geophysical survey, or(d) for any other purpose authorised by this Act or the regulations.(2) In this section, registered surveyor means a registered land surveyor or registered mining surveyor within the meaning of the Surveying and Spatial Information Act 2002.
A geologist, geophysicist or geochemist employed in the Department and authorised by the Director-General for the purposes of this Part may, at all reasonable times, enter any land with such assistants as he or she may think necessary for the purpose of removing any sample of petroleum, water or strata.
(1) Before a person enters any land pursuant to this Part, the person must:(a) if practicable, give reasonable notice to the landholder of the person’s intention to do so, and(b) if required by that landholder, produce evidence that the person is authorised by the Director-General for the purposes of this Part.(2) Evidence referred to in subsection (1) (b) is to be in the form prescribed by the regulations.(3) In this section, landholder includes a secondary landholder.
The Minister must pay compensation for any loss or damage caused by any person in the exercise under this Part of any power to enter premises, but not if the loss or damage is caused because the occupier obstructed, hindered or restricted the person in the exercise of that power.
A person may not exercise the powers conferred by this Part in relation to a part of any premises that is being used for residential purposes except:(a) with the permission of the occupier of that part of the premises, or(b) under the authority conferred by a search warrant.
(1) In this section:authorised officer has the same meaning as it has in the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002.
(2) The Director-General or an officer of the Department may apply to an authorised officer for a search warrant in respect of any premises if the person has reasonable grounds for believing that a provision of this Act or the regulations or a requirement of a petroleum title has been or is being contravened in or on those premises.(3) An authorised officer to whom an application is made under subsection (2) may, if satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for doing so, issue a search warrant authorising a person named in the warrant:(a) to enter the premises, and(b) to search the premises for evidence of a contravention of this Act, the regulations or the requirements of a petroleum title.(4) Division 4 of Part 5 of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 applies to a search warrant issued under this section.