Section 2C — Finance Act 2008

2C 1 An amount attributed under paragraph 2A(2) is—

a in the case of a current participator, to be an addition to the share of the abandonment expenditure referable to the current participator's interest in the oil field, or b in the case of a former participator, to be the share of the abandonment expenditure referable to the former participator's interest in the oil field.

2 In paragraphs 2A and 2B and this paragraph— “ abandonment expenditure ” means expenditure which is allowable for an oil field by virtue of section 3(1)(i) or (j); “ abandonment programme ” means an abandonment programme approved under Part 4 of the Petroleum Act 1998 (including any such programme as revised); “ current participator ” means a person who is, by virtue of paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of the definition in section 12, a participator in the relevant oil field in the chargeable period in which the abandonment expenditure is incurred; “ former participator ” means a person who—

is not a current participator, but was, by virtue of paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of the definition in section 12, a participator in the relevant oil field in any chargeable period before the chargeable period in which the abandonment expenditure is incurred; “ relevant agreement ” has the meaning given by section 104(5)(a) of the Finance Act 1991; “ relevant oil field ” means the oil field to which the abandonment expenditure relates; “ sum in default ” means the amount of the payment which the defaulter is liable to make as mentioned in paragraph 2A(1)(a), less the aggregate of—

so much of that payment as has been made by the defaulter, and so much of that payment as has been met by virtue of any guarantee or security provided in respect of the defaulter's liability.

3 For the purposes of paragraph 2A, a current participator is to be regarded as defaulting on a liability to make a payment towards abandonment expenditure if the following conditions are met.

4 The first condition is that the current participator has failed to make the payment in full on the due day.

5 The second condition is that—

a any of the payment remains unpaid on the sixtieth day after the due day, or b before that sixtieth day, the current participator's interest in a relevant licence becomes liable under the relevant agreement to be sold or forfeited, in whole or in part, by reason of the failure to meet the liability.

6 In sub-paragraphs (4) and (5) “ due day ” means the day on which the payment towards abandonment expenditure becomes due under the relevant agreement or the abandonment programme.