Communication from the French Government concerning Directive 94/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 1994 on the conditions for granting and using authorisations for the prospection, exploration and production of hydrocarbons (Notice regarding an application for an exclusive licence to prospect for oil and gas, designated Permis de Juan de Nova Maritime Profond ) Text with EEA relevance
Date: 2006-12-29
Institutions: France
Subjects: France, energy site, exchange of information, exclusive economic zone, exploitation of resources, hydrocarbon, mineral prospecting

C 321/28

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

29.12.2006

Communication from the French Government concerning Directive 94/22/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 1994 on the conditions for granting and using authorisa-
tions 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 de Juan de Nova Maritime Profond’)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2006/C 321/09)

On 6 April 2006, Marex Petroleum Corporation (dba Marex,
Inc.), with registered offices at 11711
Memorial Drive, Suite 258, Texas 77024 Houston (United States), and Roc Oil Company Limited, with regis-
tered offices at 1 Market Street, Level 14, Sydney 2000 NSW (Australia), applied for an exclusive five-year
licence, designated the ‘Permis de Juan de Nova Maritime Profond’, to prospect for oil and gas in an area of
approximately 62 000 km2 of the seabed of the exclusive economic zone of the French island of Juan de
Nova.

The perimeter of the area covered by this licence is delineated by:

— to the east of the island, the line separating France's and Madagascar's economic zones, to be established;

— to the west of the island, the line separating France's and Mozambique's economic zones, to be estab-

lished.

Submission of applications and criteria for awarding rights

The initial applicant and competing applicants must prove that they comply with the requirements for
obtaining the licence, as 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 of 22 April 1995), kept in force
by Article 63 of Decree No 2006-648 on mining rights and underground storage rights.

Interested companies may, within a period of 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 the amended Decree No 95-427 of 19 April 1995.
Competing applications must be sent to the Minister responsible for mines at the address below.

Decisions on the initial application and competing applications are made on the basis of the criteria for
awarding mining rights as defined in Article 5 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 10 April 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 2006-649 of 2 June
2006 on mining operations, underground storage and the regulations governing them (Journal officiel de la
République française, 3 June 2006).

Further information can be obtained from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry (Direc-
torate-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, France [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.