S.L. 545.9 Art. 2Interpretation.

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires:

"the Act" means the Regulator for Energy and Water Services

Act;

"additives" means non-hydrocarbon compounds added to or blended with a product to modify its properties;

"biofuel" means liquid or gaseous fuel for transport produced from biomass, being the biodegradable fraction of products, waste and residues from agriculture (including vegetable and animal substances), forestry and related industries, as well as the biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal waste;

"central stockholding entity" means the body or service upon which powers may be conferred to act to acquire, maintain or sell oil stocks, including emergency stocks and specific stocks, hereinafter referred to as "CSE"; "commercial stocks" means those oil stocks held by economic operators which are not a requirement under these regulations; "the Commission" means the European Commission established by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as amended by the Lisbon Treaty, 2009;

"the Community" means the European Community established by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as amended by the Lisbon Treaty, 2009;

*see regulation 1(4) of these Regulations as originally promulgated. "Coordination Group" means the consultative group established by Directive 2009/119/EC to contribute to analysing the situation within the Community with regard to security of supply for oil and petroleum products and to facilitate the coordination and implementation of measures in that field; "economic operator" means any person, body or entity required to hold emergency stocks under these regulations; "effective international decision to release stocks" means any decision in force taken by the Governing Board of the International Energy Agency to make crude oil or petroleum products available to the market by a release of its members’ stocks and, or additional measures; "emergency stocks" means the oil stocks that are required to be maintained pursuant to regulation 3; "Governing Board of the International Energy Agency" means the Governing Board of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the inter-governmental organisation established by means of the Agreement on an International Energy Program ("I.E.P. Agreement"); "inland consumption" means the total quantities, calculated according to the Second Schedule, delivered within a country for both energy and non-energy use. This aggregate includes deliveries to the transformation sector and deliveries to industry, transport, households and other sectors for ‘final’ consumption. It also includes the own consumption of the energy sector (except refinery fuel);

"international marine bunkers" means the quantities of fuels delivered to ships of all flags that are engaged in international navigation. The international navigation may take place at sea, on inland lakes and waterways, and in coastal waters. The following shall be excluded:

(a) consumption by ships engaged in domestic navigation. The domestic or international split should be determined on the basis of port of departure and port of arrival, and not by the flag or nationality of the ship;

(b) consumption by fishing vessels;

(c) consumption by military forces;

"major supply disruption" means a substantial and sudden drop in the supply of crude oil or petroleum products to the Community or to a Member State, irrespective of whether or not it has led to an effective international decision to release stocks; "the Minister" means the Minister responsible for resources; "Member State" means a state which is a member of the European Union; "oil stocks" means stocks of the energy products listed in Chapter 3.4 of Annex A to Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008; "physical accessibility" means arrangements for locating and transporting stocks to ensure their release or effective delivery to end users and markets within time frames and conditions conducive to alleviating the supply problems which may have arisen; "reference year" means the calendar year of the consumption or of the net import data used to calculate either the stocks to be held or the stocks actually held at a given time;

"Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008" means Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on energy statistics; "the Regulator" means the Regulator for Energy and Water Services established by the Act; "specific stocks" means oil stocks which meet the criteria set out in regulation 9.