Communication from the French Government concerning Directive 94/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conditions for granting and using authorisations for the prospection, exploration and production of hydrocarbons

(Notice regarding an application for an exclusive licence to prospect for liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, designated the ‘Saint Griède licence’)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2007/C 110/14)

By request of 13 March 2006, Gas2Grid Limited, a company with registered offices at Level 14, 19-31 Pitt Street, NSW 2000, Sydney (Australia) and Gippsland Offshore Petroleum Limited, a company with registered offices at Level 7, 530 Little Collins Street, VIC 3000, Melbourne (Australia), applied for an exclusive five-year licence to prospect for liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, designated the ‘Saint Griède licence’, in an area of approximately 2 184 square kilometres covering part of the departments of Gers, Landes, Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Hautes-Pyrénées.

The perimeter of the area covered by this licence consists of the meridian and parallel arcs connecting in turn the points defined below by their geographical coordinates, the original meridian being that of Paris.

Part of this application overlaps with the Tarbes Val d'Adour application published in the OJ C 122, 23.5.2006, p. 13 and the Ger application published in the OJ C 142, 17.6.2006, p. 2, while part is separate. This competition notice only concerns the separate part. The perimeter concerned consists of the meridian and parallel arcs connecting in turn the points defined below by their geographical coordinates, the original meridian being that of Paris.

Submission of applications

The initial applicant and competing applicants must prove that they comply with the requirements for obtaining the licence, as specified in Articles 4, 5 and 6 of Decree No 2006-648 of 2 June 2006 concerning mining rights and underground storage rights. (Journal officiel de la République française of 3 June 2006).

Interested companies may, within ninety days of the publication of this notice, submit a competing application in accordance with the procedure summarised in the ‘Notice regarding the granting of mining rights for hydrocarbons in France ’published in Official Journal of the European Communities C 374 of 30 December 1994, p.11, and established by Decree No 2006-648 of 2 June 2006 concerning mining rights and underground storage rights.

Competing applications must be sent to the Minister responsible for mines at the address below. Decisions on the initial application and competing applications will be taken within two years of the date on which the French authorities received the initial application, i.e. by 13 March 2008 at the latest.

Conditions and requirements regarding performance of the activity and cessation thereof

Applicants are referred to Articles 79 and 79(1) of the Mining Code and to Decree No 2006-649 of 2 June 2006 on mining and underground storage operations and the regulations governing mines and underground storage (Journal officiel de la République française of 3 June 2006).

Further information can be obtained from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry (Directorate-General for Energy and Raw Materials, Directorate for Energy and Mineral Resources, Bureau of Mining Legislation, 61, boulevard Vincent Auriol, Télédoc 133, F-75703 Paris Cedex 13 (telephone: (33) 144 97 23 02, fax: (33) 144 97 05 70].

The abovementioned laws and regulations can be consulted at http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr