EN Official Journal of the European Union C 52/20

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 applications for exclusive licences to prospect for oil and gas, designated the ‘Meaux Licence’ and the ‘Deux-Nanteuil Licence’)

(Text with EEA relevance)

2011/C 52/05

On 17 June 2010, a competition notice was published in the Official Journal of the European Union regarding an application submitted by Realm Energy International Corp for an exclusive licence, designated the ‘Meaux Licence’, to prospect for oil and gas in an area of approximately 825 km2 covering part of the departments of Aisne, Oise and Seine-et-Marne.

Competing applications:

— On 23 June 2010, Toreador Energy France SCS and Hess Oil France SAS, companies with registered offices at 9 rue Scribe, 75009 Paris, France and 37 rue des Mathruins, 75008 Paris, France respectively, applied jointly and severally for an exclusive five-year licence, designated the ‘Meaux Licence’, to prospect for oil and gas in an area of approximately 628 km2 covering part of the department of Seine-et-Marne.

— On 14 September 2010, Concorde Energy France SAS through its intermediary in France, SP2 MARC, a company with registered offices at 36 rue du Dr Le Savoureux, 92290 Châtenay-Malabry, France, applied for an exclusive five-year licence, designated the ‘Deux-Nanteuil Licence’, to prospect for oil and gas in an area of approximately 841 km2 covering part of the departments of Aisne, Oise and Seine-et-Marne.

An area covered by these applications overlaps with an area specified in the ‘Meaux’ licence application, submitted by Realm Energy, and two areas covered by the aforementioned applications do not. This competition notice concerns only the areas that do not overlap therewith. They consist of the meridian and parallel arcs connecting in turn the points defined below by their geographical coordinates in grads, the prime meridian being that of Paris.

Area comprising the parts which overlap and do not overlap of the ‘Meaux’ (Toreador) and ‘Deux-Nanteuil’ licence applications Point Longitude grad east Latitude grad north A 00,64 54,31 B 00,69 54,31 C 00,69 54,32 D 00,70 54,32 E 00,70 54,30 F 00,64 54,30





Area comprising the part which does not overlap of the ‘Deux-Nanteuil’ application Point Longitude grad east Latitude grad north A’ 00,40 54,40 B’ 00,44 54,40 C’ 00,44 54,39 D’ 00,42 54,39 E’ 00,42 54,38 F’ 00,41 54,38 G’ 00,41 54,33 H’ 00,42 54,33 I’ 00,42 54,30 J’ 00,40 54,30

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, as 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, page 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 must be sent to the Minister responsible for mines at the address below. Decisions on the two initial applications and competing applications will be taken by 20 November 2011 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 Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry (MINÉFI) from the following address:

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.