EN Official Journal of the European Union C 31/20

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

(2009/C 31/13)

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 Brabant and is bounded as follows:

(a) a straight line running from vertex P to vertex A up to the intersection of that line with the line that forms the middle of the river Amer, near vertex B;

(b) then the line that forms the middle of the river Amer and after that the Bergsche Maas from the intersection referred to in ‘(a)’ to vertex C, located in the middle of the Bergsche Maas;

(c) then straight lines between vertex pairs C-D and D-E;

(d) then a straight line running from vertex E to vertex F up to the intersection with the line that forms the middle of the river Amer, near vertex F;

(e) then a line that forms the middle of the Bergsche Maas from the intersection referred to in ‘(d)’ to the vertex where that line intersects with the line of the coordinate x = 137100,00, near vertex G;

(f) then the border between the provinces of Gelderland and North Brabant from the intersection referred to in ‘(e)’ up to the intersection with the line from vertex J to vertex I, near vertex H;

(g) then a straight line from the intersection referred to in ‘(f)’ to vertex I;

(h) then a straight line from vertex I to vertex J up to the intersection with the line between the vertices with the coordinates x = 164000,00, y = 421000,00 and x = 189000,00, y = 373000,00, near vertex K;

(i) then a straight line from the intersection referred to in ‘(h)’ to the intersection of the straight line from vertex N to vertex M with the line between the vertices with the coordinates x = 164000,00, y = 421000,00 and x = 189000,00, y = 373000,00, near vertex L;

(j) then a straight line between the intersection referred to in ‘(i)’ and vertex M;

(k) then straight lines between vertex pairs M-N, N-O and O-P.

The coordinates of the vertices referred to are as follows:

Vertex X Y A 115338.00 413290.00 B 115338.00 413678.55 C 120700.00 414650.00 D 120000.00 418500.00 E 135000.00 418500.00 F 136200.28 416299.48 G 137100.00 416580.00 H 153173.00 419368.00 I 153329.00 419368.00 J 162400.00 419368.00 K 164850.00 419368.00 L 187645.83 375600.00 M 186939.00 375600.00 N 151430.00 375600.00 O 130074.00 390264.00 P 115338.00 390264.00

The area bounded by the following vertices and the straight lines between them does not form part of the area described above:

Vertex X Y 1 130074.00 416300.00 2 130074.00 416300.00 3 130074.00 393000.00 4 130074.00 393000.00

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 2 026 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 A/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 on the following telephone number: (31-70) 379 77 62.