Communication from the Minister for Economic Affairs 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

2010/C 280/11

The Minister for Economic Affairs hereby gives notice that an application has been received for authorisation to prospect for hydrocarbons in a segment of block P18 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 P18b.

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 hereby invites interested parties to submit a competing application for authorisation to prospect for hydrocarbons in block segment P18b of the Dutch continental shelf.

Block segment P18b is delimited by the parallel arcs between vertex pairs A-B and H-I, the meridian arc between vertices B-C, G-H and A-I, by the great circles between vertices C-D and E-F, by arc 1 through points D and E and arc 2 through points F and G.

The coordinates of the vertices are as follows:

Arc 1 has a centre with coordinates 3° 54′ 0,000″ O.L., 52° 1′ 30,000″ N.B. and a radius of 5 nautical miles.

Arc 2 has a centre with coordinates 3° 53′ 34,000″ O.L., 52° 1′ 46,000″ N.B. and a radius of 5 nautical miles.

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

Block segment P18b covers an area of 313,2 km2.

The Minister for Economic Affairs 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 above-mentioned 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 +31 703797088.