EN Official Journal of the European Union C 157/16

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 liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, designated the ‘Pays de Bray Licence’ and the ‘Pays de Bray-Sud Licence’)

(Text with EEA relevance)

2010/C 157/09

On 21 April and 19 August 2009 POROS SAS, a company with registered offices at 145 rue Michel Carré, BP 73, 95100 Argenteuil Cedex, FRANCE applied for two exclusive five-year licences, designated the ‘Pays de Bray Licence’ and the ‘Pays de Bray-Sud Licence’, to prospect for oil and gas.

The perimeter of the area covered by these licence applications 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.

Pays de Bray Licence, covering approximately 587 km2 in the départments of Oise and Seine-Maritime Point Latitude grad north Longitude grad west A 55,10 0,70 B 55,10 0,30 C 54,80 0,30 D 54,80 0,40 E 54,90 0,40 F 54,90 0,70





Pays de Bray-Sud Licence, covering approximately 261 km2 in the départment of Oise Point Latitude grad north Longitude grad west A 54,90 0,30 B 54,90 0,10 C 54,80 0,10 D 54,80 0,00 E 54,70 0,00 F 54,70 0,20 G 54,80 0,20 H 54,80 0,30

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, 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 the 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 on 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 initial application and competing applications will be taken within two years of the date on which the French authorities received the initial application, i.e. by 14 May 2011 at the latest for the Pays de Bray Licence and by 19 August 2011 at the latest for the Pays de Bray-Sud Licence.

Conditions and requirements regarding performance of the activity and cessation thereof

Applicants are referred to Articles 79 and 79.1 of the French 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/Paroi Nord, 92055 La Défense Cedex, FRANCE. Tel. +33 140819529.

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

(1) OJ L 164, 30.6.1994, p. 3.