EN Official Journal of the European Union C 310/33

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 or gas designated the ‘Château-Thierry licence’)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2007/C 310/10)

By request of 3 July 2007, Toreador Energy France, a company with registered offices at 9 rue Scribe, F-75009, Paris, applied for an exclusive five-year licence, designated the ‘Château-Thierry licence’, to prospect for oil or gas in an area of approximately 779 km2, covering part of the departments of Aisne, Seine-et-Marne and 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 original meridian being that of Paris.

Points Longitude Latitude A 0,80 °E 54,50 °N B 1,40 °E 54,50 °N C 1,40 °E 54,37 °N D 1,38 °E 54,37 °N E 1,38 °E 54,33 °N F 1,36 °E 54,33 °N G 1,36 °E 53,30 °N H 0,80 °E 53,30 °N

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, 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 December 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 within two years of the date on which the French authorities received the initial application, i.e. by 3 July 2009 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 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 and for Sustainable Development and Town and Country Planning (Directorate-General for Energy and Raw Materials, Directorate for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mining Legislation Office), 61, Boulevard Vincent Auriol, Télédoc 133, F-75703 Paris Cedex 13, (Telephone (33) 144 97 23 02, fax (33) 144 97 05 70).

The abovementioned laws and regulations can be consulted at:

http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr

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