Short Title of Act.
Article 1
ARTICLE 1. Short Title of Act.—The short title of this Act shall be "Petroleum Act of 1949."
RA 387 CHAPTER I
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Definition of terms.
Article 2
ART. 2. Definition of terms.—When used in this Act, the following terms shall, unless the context otherwise indicates, have the following respective meanings: (a) "Petroleum" shall include any mineral oil, hydrocarbon gas, bitumen, asphalt, mineral wax, and all other similar or naturally associated substances; with the exception of coal, peat, bituminous shale, and/or other stratified mineral fuel deposits. (b) "Crude oil" means oil in its natural state before the same has been refined or otherwise treated, but excluding water and foreign substances. (c) "Natural gas" means gas obtained from boreholes and wells and consisting primarily of hydrocarbon. (d) "Government" means the Government of the Philippines. (e) "State" means the Republic of the Philippines. (f) "Permittee," "concessionaire" or "contractor" means a person to whom a permit, concession, or contract, as the case may be, has been granted or awarded under the provisions of this Act, his successors and assigns. (g) "Person" includes a natural person, corporation, or Partnership. (h) A "barrel" is equivalent to 158.98 liters or 42 U. S. gallons. (i) All measurements of distances, width, length, areas, depth and volume, and weight shall be in the metric systern. (j) Words in singular shall include the plural, and vice versa.
State ownership.
Article 3
ART. 3. State ownership.—All natural deposits or occurrences of petroleum or natural gas in public and/or e lands in the Philippines, whether found in, on or the surface of dry lands, creeks, rivers, lakes, or other submerged lands within the territorial waters or on the continental shelf, or its analogue in an archipelago seaward from the shores of the Philippines which within the territories of other countries, belong to the State, inalienably and imprescriptibly.
Title to land.
Article 4
ART. 4. Title to land.—The ownership or the right to the use of lands for agricultural, industrial, commercial, residential, mining, or for any purpose other than for petroleum exploration, development or exploitation doe not include the ownership of, nor the right to explore for exploit, or utilize the petroleum or natural gas deposits in, on or under the surface of such land.
Granting of petroleum rights.
Article 5
ART. 5. Granting of petroleum rights.—The right to ex-plore for, develop, exploit or utilize the petroleum resources described in article three hereof may only be granted to duly qualified persons by means of concessions in accordance with the provisions of this Act. The Government, however, reserves the right to undertake such work either by itself or through its instrumentalities, or through competent persons qualified to undertake such work as independent contractor or contractors under a contract of service executed for the Republic of the Philippines by the President and approved by the Congress of the Philippines in accordance with the provisions of article thirteen of this Act. Exploration or exploitation rights may be exclusive within certain areas; but no exclusive rights may be granted for refining or transportation.
Granting of concession is discretionary with the Government.
Article 6
ART. 6. Granting of concession is discretionary with the Government.—The granting of concession under this Act is discretionary with the Government, except in the cases mentioned in article eleven hereof, where, upon the fulfillment of the formalities and requirements of this Act, the granting thereof is obligatory upon the Government.
Petroleum operation a public utility.
Article 7
ART. 7. Petroleum operation a public utility.—Everything relating to the exploration for and exploitation petroleum which may exist naturally or below the surface of the earth, and everything relating to the manufacture refining, storage, or transportation by special method petroleum as provided for in this Act, is hereby declared to be of public utility.
Concessionaire assumes risks.
Article 8
ART. 8. Concessionaire assumes risks.—Concessions re-ferred to in this Act shall be granted at the complete risk of the interested party. The Government does not guarantee the existence of petroleum or undertake, in any case, title warranty.
Ownership not conferred.
Article 9
ART. 9. Ownership not conferred.—Exploration and Exploitation Concessions do not confer upon the concessionaire the ownership over the petroleum lands and petroleum deposits, but only the right to explore for, develop, exploit, and utilize them for the period and under the conditions determined by this Act.
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Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).