EN Official Journal of the European Union C 78/28

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 and gas, designated ‘Permis des Moussières’)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2007/C 78/16)

By request of 2 June 2006, Celtique Energie Petroleum Ltd, a company with registered offices at 15, Beechwood Road, Beaconsfield, HP9 1HP, Bucks (United Kingdom), applied for an exclusive five-year licence, designated the ‘Moussières licence’, to prospect for oil and gas in an area of approximately 3 747 km2 covering part of the departments of Ain, Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Saône and Loire.

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 3,30 degrees E 51,70 degrees N B 4,00 degrees E 51,70 degrees N C 4,00 degrees E 51,30 degrees N D 3,90 degrees E 51,30 degrees N E 3,90 degrees E 50,80 degrees N F 3,50 degrees E 50,80 degrees N G 3,50 degrees E 51,00 degrees N H 3,30 degrees E 51,00 degrees N

Part of this application overlaps with the Lons-le-Saunier application published in the OJ C 163 of 14 July 2006, for which the competition notice deadline has passed, while part is separate. This competition notice only concerns the separate part. The perimeter concerned 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 3,30 degrees E 51,50 degrees N B 3,40 degrees E 51,50 degrees N C 3,40 degrees E 51,60 degrees N D 3,70 degrees E 51,60 degrees N E 3,70 degrees E 51,70 degrees N F 4,00 degrees E 51,70 degrees N G 4,00 degrees E 51,30 degrees N H 3,90 degrees E 51,30 degrees N I 3,90 degrees E 50,80 degrees N J 3,50 degrees E 50,80 degrees N K 3,50 degrees E 51,00 degrees N L 3,30 degrees E 51,00 degrees N

Submission of applications

The applicants for the ‘Moussières licence ’and competing applicants must prove that they comply with the requirements for obtaining the licence, specified in Articles 3, 4 and 5 of Decree No 95-427 of 19 April 1995, as amended, concerning mining rights (Journal officiel de la République française, 22 April 1995).

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 the Official Journal of the European Communities C 374 of 30 December 1994, page 11, and established by Decree No 95-427 of 19 April 1995, as amended, concerning mining rights.

Competing applications must be sent to the Minister responsible for mines at the address below. Decisions on the ‘Moussières licence ’application and competing applications will be taken within two years of the date on which the French authorities received the application, i.e. by 2 June 2008 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 95-696 of 9 May 1995, as amended, on the start of mining operations and the mining regulations (Journal officiel de la République française, 11 May 1995).

Further information can be obtained from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry (Directorate-General for Energy and Raw Materials, Directorate for Energy and Mineral Resources, Bureau of Mining Legislation), 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.