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 ‘Permis des Trois Chênes’)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2008/C 308/06)

On 11 April 2008, Geopetrol, a company with registered offices at 9, rue Nicolas Copernic — BP 20, F-93151 Le Blanc-Mesnil Cedex, applied for an exclusive five-year licence, designated the ‘Permis des Trois Chênes’, to prospect for oil and gas in an area of approximately 281 km2 in the department of Seine-et-Marne.

The perimeter of the area covered by this licence consists of the meridian and parallel arcs connecting in turn the vertices defined below by their geographical coordinates in degrees, the prime meridian being that of Paris.

The following are excluded from that perimeter:

The area of the Charmottes concession (36,5 km2)

The area of the Brémonderie concession (11,3 km2)

Submission of applications and criteria for awarding rights

The initial applicant 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 of 3 June 2006).

Interested companies may, within ninety 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 30.12.1994, p. 11, and established by Decree No 2006-648 of 2 June 2006 concerning mining rights and underground storage rights. Competing applications must be sent to the Minister responsible for mines at the address below.

The decisions on the initial application and the competing applications will be based on the criteria governing the award of mining rights, as set out in Article 6 of the abovementioned Decree, and will be taken by 15 April 2010 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 Mining Code (code minier) and to Decree No 2006-649 of 2 June 2006 on mining and underground storage operations and the regulations governing mining and underground storage (décret relatif aux travaux miniers, aux travaux de stockage souterrain et à la police des mines et des stockages souterrains) (Journal officiel de la République française of 3 June 2006).

Further information can be obtained from the following address: Ministère de l'écologie, de l'énergie du développement durable et de l'aménagement du territoire (direction générale de l'énergie et du climat, direction de l'énergie, Sous-direction de la Sécurité d'Approvisionnement et des Nouveaux Produits Energétiques, bureau exploration et production des hydrocarbures), 41, boulevard Vincent Auriol, F-75703 Paris Cedex 13 (tel. (33) 153 94 14 81, fax (33) 153 94 14 40).

The laws and regulations referred to above can be consulted at:

http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr

(1)  OJ L 164, 30.6.1994, p. 3.