EN Official Journal of the European Union C 309/29

Communication from the Minister for Economic Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on the basis of Article 3(2) of 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

(2008/C 309/09)

The Minister for Economic Affairs hereby gives notice that an application has been received for authorisation to prospect for hydrocarbons.

The area covered by the application is in the province of North Holland and is bounded as follows:

(a) a straight line running from vertex B to vertex A up to the intersection of that line with the line laid down in the Annex to the Mining Act;

(b) then a straight line between vertex pair B-C;

(c) then a line along the base of the sea wall, via the breakwaters of, consecutively, the Ferry Port (Veerhaven) and the New Port (Nieuwe Haven) of Den Helder, along the base of the dikes separating the Wadden Sea from the mainland of the province of North Holland up to vertex D;

(d) than a straight line between vertex pairs D-E, E-F, F-G, G-H, H-I, I-J, J-K and K-L. The boundary defined by these lines coincides with the boundary of the Slootdorp extraction authorisation;

(e) then a straight line between vertex pairs L-M and M-N;

(f) then a straight line between vertex pairs N-O, O-P, P-Q, Q-R, R-S and S-T and a straight line from vertex T through vertex U up to the intersection of that line with the line laid down in the Annex to the Mining Act. The boundary defined by these lines coincides with the boundary of the Middelie extraction authorisation;

(g) then, from the intersection referred to in (f), the line laid down in the Annex to the Mining Act, up to the intersection referred to in (a).

The coordinates of the vertices referred to are as follows:

Vertex X Y A 103770,18 559971,35 B 107000,00 560000,00 C 110875,00 553050,00 D 120349,91 544687,80 E 116000,00 544000,00 F 118790,00 538390,00 G 120800,00 535000,00 H 123450,00 532000,00 I 126950,00 527300,00 J 130100,00 525000,00 K 132150,00 522600,00 L 133722,20 518465,93 M 129900,00 516000,00 N 129900,00 512735,67 O 126275,00 515000,00 P 120000,00 518150,00 Q 118750,00 520000,00 R 117585,00 522850,00 S 115000,00 525260,00 T 110000,00 528400,00 U 101790,20 537430,78

The coordinates are expressed in accordance with the national triangulation system (‘RD’).

On the basis of this description of the boundaries, the surface area is 576,4 km2.

With reference to the Directive mentioned in the introduction and Article 15 of the Mining Act (Mijnbouwwet) (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees (Staatsblad) 2002, No 542), the Minister for Economic Affairs hereby invites interested parties to submit a competing application for authorisation to prospect for hydrocarbons in the area bounded by the above-mentioned vertices and coordinates.

The Minister for Economic Affairs is the competent authority for the granting of authorisations. The criteria, conditions and requirements referred to in Articles 5(1), 5(2) and 6(2) of the abovementioned Directive are set out in the Mining Act (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2002, No 542).

Applications may be submitted during the 13 weeks following the publication of this notice in the Official Journal of the European Union and should be sent to:

De Minister van Economische Zaken ter attentie van J.C. De Groot, directeur Energiemarkt ALP/562 Bezuidenhoutseweg 30 Postbus 20101 2500 EC Den Haag Nederland

Applications received after the expiry of this period will not be considered.

A decision on the applications will be taken not later than 12 months after this period has expired.

Further information can be obtained by calling Mr E.J. Hoppel: (31-70) 379 77 62.