The Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928 (18 & 19 Geo. 5. c. 32) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to consolidate the enactments relating to petroleum and petroleum-spirit. It specified and updated the conditions for the granting of licenses for keeping petroleum spirit; the labelling of containers for petroleum spirit; its transport; and regulations for certain uses.
The Petroleum Act 1871 (34 & 35 Vict. c. 105) was still the principal act controlling the licensing, storage and use of petroleum and petroleum products in the late 1920s. It was recognised that considerable changes had taken place since 1871 in the use of petroleum such as the development of the motor car and the increased use of petrol by the public. It had also become difficult for local authorities to administer the law as it was distributed over a number of acts, and partly because the Petroleum Act 1871 was seen as not being well drafted and difficulties had arisen over interpretation.
The original Petroleum Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c. 66) defined Petroleum Spirit as a substance that would give off a flammable vapour at less than . After several changes this was finally revised in 1879 to set a limit of .
Before the act could be enacted the existing legislation needed to be amended, requiring cleaning up several pieces of poor legislative draftsmanship so that this and other legislation then incorporated into the consolidated act.
The (18 & 19 Geo. 5. c. 20) comprised four sections. The first dealt with harbours and the definition of a "harbour authority" which had previously been ambiguous. Section 2 dealt with the making of bylaws for substances other than petroleum, such as calcium carbide. Section 3 dealt with the repeal of section 5 of the Locomotives on Highways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 36). That section was a concession applied to motor cars, which had then been considered to be light locomotives. Petrol had since been used for agricultural machinery, motorboats, stationary engines for electric lighting, and for pumping water. The Petroleum Act 1871 (34 & 35 Vict. c. 105) required a licence from the local authority, which was not necessary for these new applications. Section 4 gave canal companies a general power of making by-laws for the transport of petrol.
The act received royal assent on 3 August 1928. Its long title is 'An Act to consolidate the enactments relating to petroleum and to petroleum-spirit'. The act comprises 26 sections under nine headings plus three schedules
Section 26(3) of the act repealed 5 enactments, listed in the third schedule to the act.
Section 2 of the Petroleum (Transfer of Licences) Act 1936 (26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8. c. 27) construed the 1936 act to be one with the 1928 act and they could be cited together as the Petroleum (Regulation) Acts 1928 and 1936.
The whole of the 1928 and 1936 acts were repealed by section 25(1) of, and schedule 4 to, the Petroleum (Consolidation) Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1637), which came into force on 1 October 2014.