Communication from the Minister for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands pursuant to Article 3(2) of 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

2012/C 42/04

The Minister for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation hereby gives notice that an application has been received for authorisation to extract hydrocarbons in a segment of block S3 as indicated on the map attached as Annex 3 to the Mining Regulation (Mijnbouwregeling) (Government Gazette (Staatscourant) 2002, No 245). The area in question is to be designated block segment S3a.

With reference to the Directive mentioned in the introduction and Article 15 of the Mining Act (Mijnbouwwet) (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees (Staatsblad) 2002, No 542), the Minister for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation hereby invites interested parties to submit a competing application for authorisation to extract hydrocarbons in block segment S3a of the Dutch continental shelf.

Block segment S3a is delimited at vertices A and B by the parallel arc, at vertex B by the meridian arc and by the great circle between vertex A and the intersection of the meridian arc with the line as described in the Annex to the Minding Act. This intersection is located close to vertex C.

The vertices are defined as follows:

The above vertices are defined by their geographical coordinates, calculated according to the European Terrestrial Reference System.

Block segment S3a covers an area of 2,1 km2.

The Minister for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation is the competent authority for the granting of authorisations. The criteria, conditions and requirements referred to in Articles 5(1), 5(2) and 6(2) of the abovementioned Directive are set out in the Mining Act (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2002, No 542).

Applications may be submitted during the 13 weeks following the publication of this notice in the Official Journal of the European Union and should be sent to:

Applications received after the expiry of this period will not be considered.

A decision on the applications will be taken not later than 12 months after this period has expired.

Further information can be obtained by calling Mr E. J. Hoppel on the following telephone number: +31 703797762.