The Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security has received an application (‘d 368 C.R-.AU’) from AUDAX ENERGY S.r.l. for a hydrocarbon exploration licence, in respect of an area in Maritime Zone C and Maritime Zone G (Strait of Sicily), delimited by the meridian and parallel arcs connecting the points whose geographical coordinates are indicated below:

Points	Geographical coordinates
	Longitude east of Greenwich	Latitude
a	12°02’	37°31’
b	Intersection between parallel 37°43’ and the 9-nautical mile boundary line
c	Intersection between the 9-nautical mile boundary line and meridian 12°20’
d	12°20’	37°31’
e	12°15’	37°31’
f	12°15’	37°29’
g	12°07’	37°29’
h	12°07’	37°37’
i	12°02’	37°37’
l	12°02’	37°36’
m	12°01’	37°36’
n	12°01’	37°35’
o	11°57’	37°35’
p	11°57’	37°40’
q	12°02’	37°40’

The above coordinates have been plotted using the nautical map of the Italian coastline drawn up by the Italian Navy’s Hydrographic Institute at a scale of 1:250 000 – Map No 948. On the basis of these boundaries, the surface area is 573,30 km2.

In accordance with the Directive referred to above, Article 4 of Legislative Decree No 625 of 25 November 1996, the Ministerial Decree of 7 December 2016, as amended by the Ministerial Decree of 9 August 2017, and the Directorial Decree of 15 July 2015, the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security must publish a notice to enable other interested parties to submit applications for hydrocarbon exploration licences for the same area.

The competent authority for granting the relevant exploration licence is the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security – Department for Energy – Directorate-General for Energy Sources and Licences.

The rules for granting the mineralogical licence are laid down in more detail in Law No 613 of 21 July 1967; Law No 9 of 9 January 1991; Legislative Decree No 625 of 25 November 1996; the Ministerial Decree of 7 December 2016, as amended by the Ministerial Decree of 9 August 2017, and the Directorial Decree of 15 July 2015.

The deadline for submitting applications is three months after publication of this notice in the Official Journal of the European Union. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

Applications must be sent to the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, Department of Energy, Directorate-General for Energy Sources and Licences at the certified email (PEC) address: fta@pec.mase.gov.it

The application and the attached documentation must be signed digitally by the representative of the applicant company. In order to ensure the confidentiality of the data during the tendering period, the technical report and the programme of works must be attached in compressed and encrypted format using a program that guarantees 256-bit AES symmetric key encryption. The decryption key must be sent in a subsequent certified email at the end of the tendering period.

In accordance with point 2 of Annex A to Prime Ministerial Decree No 22 of 22 December 2010, the overall duration of the procedure for granting exploration licences must not exceed 180 days.