(1) For the purposes of this Act, a reference to general project expenditure incurred by a person in relation to a petroleum project is a reference to payments (not being excluded expenditure, exploration expenditure or closing - down expenditure), whether of a capital or revenue nature, to the extent that they are made by the person:
(a) in carrying on or providing operations and facilities preparatory to the activities referred to in paragraph (b), including in carrying out any feasibility or environmental study; and
(b) in carrying on or providing the operations, facilities and other things comprising the project; and
(c) in purchasing, as part of the project, external petroleum, or internal petroleum, in relation to the project; and
(d) in procuring another person to stabilise, transport, store, recover or process petroleum recovered from the production licence area or areas in relation to the project, if that stabilisation, transportation, storage, recovery or processing constitutes:
(i) the processing of internal petroleum in relation to the project; or
(ii) the processing of external petroleum in relation to another petroleum project;
and includes any production licence or other fee (not being an excluded fee) paid by the person, to the extent that the payment relates to the carrying on or providing of any operations, facilities or other things referred to in this section.
(2) To avoid doubt, carrying on or providing the operations, facilities and other things comprising the project referred to in paragraph (1)(b) includes carrying on or providing the operations, facilities and other things in relation to the processing of external petroleum, or internal petroleum, in relation to the project.
(3) For the purposes of this section, a person is taken to make a payment when the person becomes liable to make the payment.