52003XX1016(01)

Communication from the French Government concerning Directive 94/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 1994 on the conditions for granting and using authorisations to prospect for, exploit and extract hydrocarbons(1)

(Notice regarding an application for an exclusive licence to prospect for liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, designated the "Gaz de Gardanne" licence)

(2003/C 248/04)

(Text with EEA relevance)

By request of 26 July 2002, supplemented and amended on 8 April 2003, Heritage Petroleum plc, with registered offices at 15 Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2LS (United Kingdom), applied for an exclusive five-year licence, designated the "Gaz de Gardanne licence", to prospect for liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in an area of approximately 730 km2 forming part of the departments of Bouches du Rhône and Var.

The area covered by this licence is contained within a perimeter made up of the meridian and parallel arcs successively joining the vertices defined below by their geographical coordinates, the original meridian being that of Paris:

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Interested companies may, within 90 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 the Official Journal of the European Communities C 374 of 30 December 1994, page 11, and established by Decree 95-427 of 19 April 1995 regarding mining rights (Journal officiel de la République française of 22 April 1995).

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 02 30, fax (33) 144 97 05 70).

(1) OJ L 164, 30.6.1994, p. 3.