EN Official Journal of the European Union C 142/35

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 ‘Langlade Licence’ and the ‘Hermine Licence’)

(Text with EEA relevance)

2010/C 142/12

On 29 June 2009, ConocoPhillips Canada Resources Corp., a company with registered offices at PO Box 130, 401, 9th Ave S.W., Calgary, Alberta T2P 2H7, CANADA and BHP Billiton Petroleum Corp., a company with registered offices at 1360 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 150, Houston, TX 77056-3030, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, applied for an exclusive five-year licence, designated the ‘Langlade Licence’, to prospect for oil and gas in an area of seabed totalling approximately 547 km2 off Saint Pierre-et-Miquelon.

On 9 December 2009, Bardoil Energy SAS, a company with registered offices at 42 rue de l’Abbé Pierre Gervain, Boite Postale 4353, 97500 Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, FRANCE applied for an exclusive five-year licence, designated the ‘Hermine Licence’, to prospect for oil and gas in an area of seabed totalling approximately 1 312 km2 off Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.

The perimeter of the area covered by these applications for licences consists of the meridian and parallel arcs connecting in turn the points defined below by their geographical coordinates, the meridian of origin being the Greenwich meridian.

Point Longitude Degrees West Latitude Degrees North A 56° 24′ 01,7" 44° 35′ 33,1" B 56° 15′ 00,6" 44° 35′ 32,0" C 56° 15′ 02,1" 44° 47′ 17,8" D 56° 09′ 16,2" 44° 47′ 16,6" E 56° 09′ 21,0" 43° 50′ 00,2" F 56° 23′ 53,3" 43° 50′ 00,2"

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, 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. The 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 31 August 2011 at the latest.

Conditions and requirements regarding performance of the activity and cessation thereof

Applicants are referred to Article 79 and Article 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 responsible, at the following address: ministère de l'Écologie, de l’Énergie, du Développement durable et de la Mer, 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, Tél. +33 140819529.

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

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