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 (1)

(Notice regarding an application for an exclusive licence to prospect for oil and gas, designated the ‘Pithiviers Licence’)

(Text with EEA relevance)

2010/C 212/04

On 15 March 2010, Realm Energy International, a company with registered offices at 2nd Floor, Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, London W1J 6BD, UNITED KINGDOM, applied for an exclusive five-year licence, designated the ‘Pithiviers Licence’, to prospect for oil and gas in an area of approximately 1 407 km2 covering part of the departments of Essonne, Loiret and Seine-et-Marne.

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 meridian of origin being the Paris meridian.

Submission of applications and criteria for awarding rights

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

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 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 (Journal officiel de la République française, 3 June 2006).

Competing applications should be sent to the Minister responsible for mines at the address below. Decisions on the initial application and any competing applications will be taken within two years of the date on which the French authorities received the initial application, i.e. by 10 April 2012 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 French Mining Code and to Decree No 2006-649 of 2 June 2006 on mining and underground storage operations and the regulations governing mining and underground storage (Journal officiel de la République française, 3 June 2006).

Further information can be obtained from the Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Marine Affairs: Direction générale de l'énergie et du climat, Direction de l’énergie, Sous-direction de la sécurité d’approvisionnement et nouveaux produits énergétiques, Grande Arche de la Défense — Paroi Nord, 92055 La Défense Cedex, FRANCE (Tel. +33 140819529).

The abovementioned laws and regulations can be consulted on the Légifrance website: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr

(1)  OJ L 164, 30.6.1994, p. 3.