EN Official Journal of the European Union C 49/18

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

(Notice regarding applications for exclusive licences to prospect for oil and gas, designated the ‘Tartas Licence’ and the ‘Eauze Licence’)

(Text with EEA relevance)

2013/C 49/11

On 1 October 2010, GAS2GRID Ltd, a company with registered offices at Level 3, 10 Bridge Str., Sydney, NSW 2000 (Australia), applied for an exclusive five-year licence, designated the ‘Tartas Licence’, to prospect for oil and gas in part of the Landes department.

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 in grads, the meridian of origin being the Paris meridian.

Point Longitude west Latitude north A 4,10 48,90 B 3,10 48,90 C 3,10 48,60 D 3,60 48,60 E 3,60 48,50 F 3,50 48,50 G 3,50 48,40 H 3,70 48,40 I 3,70 48,50 J 3,90 48,50 K 3,90 48,40 L 4,10 48,40 M Point at which the 48,88 north parallel intersects the shore of the Atlantic coast

M to A: shore of the Atlantic coast.

The area as defined above is about 2 822 km2.

On 1 November 2010, the same company, GAS2GRID Ltd, also applied for an exclusive five-year licence, designated the ‘Eauze Licence’, to prospect for oil and gas in part of the Haute-Garonne, Gers, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne and Tarn-et-Garonne departments.

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 in grads, the meridian of origin being the Paris meridian.

Point Longitude west Latitude north A 3,10 49,00 B 2,30 49,00 C 2,30 48,70 D 1,50 48,70 E 1,50 48,60 F 1,30 48,60 G 1,30 48,50 H 2,60 48,50 I 2,60 48,70 J 2,70 48,70 K 2,70 48,80 L 3,10 48,80

The area as defined above is about 3 172 km2.

Submission of applications and criteria for awarding rights

The initial applicants and competing applicants must prove that they comply with the requirements for obtaining licences set out in Articles 4 and 5 of Decree No 2006-648 of 2 June 2006 (as amended) concerning mining rights and underground storage rights (Official Journal of the French Republic, 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 (as amended) concerning mining rights and underground storage rights (Official Journal of the French Republic, 3 June 2006).

Competing applications are to be sent to the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy at the address indicated 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 18 October 2012 at the latest for the Tartas application and by 5 November 2012 for the Eauze application.

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 (as amended) on mining and underground storage operations and the regulations governing mining and underground storage (Official Journal of the French Republic, 3 June 2006).

Further information can be obtained from the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy: Direction de l’énergie — Bureau exploration et production des hydrocarbures, Grande Arche, 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