Bridge Energies approved by France’s Ministry for Energy Transition
Bridge energies, working in accordance with European regulations and the mining code
View all our formal administrative documents
Key info on regulations
In conformity with the provisions in the mining code, and with European regulations, the French government may give companies permission to engage in hydrocarbon exploration or production. This means granting operating permits or leases for production.
The two essential texts on what to include in mining title applications are:
- Decree No. 2006-648 of 2 June 2006 concerning mining titles and underground storage rights;
- Ministerial order of 28 July 1995 laying down the procedures under which applications for mining titles, and their appendices, are established.
It is important to emphasise that a mining title issued by the Minister responsible for mining in no way authorises the titleholder to start drilling works without prior consent from the Prefect of the department.
The public inquiry procedure for lease applications effectively seeks to gather, from the application stage onwards, the important points that the public wishes to make known and see developed in subsequent work authorisation requests.
Examination of the mining title (consultation with military services and authority) is also an opportunity to check that easements and other constraints on the title land have been noted or factored into the impact study.
Steps in obtaining our lease
To be able to extract and use resources, an operator is required to obtain a lease.
A lease is a mining title granted by a Decree of the French Council of State to a company that then holds the title. The lease is defined by a perimeter (and therefore an area) that corresponds to the extent occupied by the reservoir underground. It has a validity period (usually 25 to 50 years) based on the field’s anticipated economic development. For the Ministry’s examination of the application, the operator must provide proof of its technical and financial capacities to ensure that the reservoir is operated successfully and with care for the environment.
An obtained lease is a real-estate and property right; as such, the operator that holds it has exclusivity as regards rights to the hydrocarbon resources, the right to market the petroleum products, and access to the land surface for installations (easements).
Obtaining a lease places binding obligations on the operator; these include: submitting a request for authorisation to operate, paying mining royalties, and restoring the site(s) on completion of the operations
MINISTRY OF ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR ENERGY AND CLIMATE (DGEC)
ENERGY DIRECTORATE
SUBSURFACE ENERGY RESOURCES
SECURITY OF SUPPLY
AND NEW ENERGY PRODUCTS
Our drilling authorisation granted by the prefect
Issuance of a mining title in no way authorises the titleholder to start drilling works without prior consent from the Prefect of the department concerned.
It is therefore mandatory to apply to the relevant administration to secure authorisation to operate. This application is subject to a public inquiry. In particular, the application must include an impact study and a hazard study.
The relevant administration, for our location in Seine-et-Marne, is the French Regional and Interdepartmental Office of the Environment and Energy of Ile-de-France (Paris Basin). Subsequently, it is the Prefect who has sign-off authority to issue authorisations.