DGEMP

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Oil and gas exploration and productionin
France -Administrative, legal and fiscal
framework -Access to data
DGEMP
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Oil and gas exploration and production in France

• Administrative organization (central level)
• Presentation of BEPH (Office of oil and gas
  exploration and production)
• Data availability
• BEPH database
• Exploration permit awarding process
• Exploration permit terms
• Tax system
• Evolution of mining acreage

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Missions of 1st Department(Hydrocarbon Resources
Department)

• Managing oil and gas exploration and production
  activities in France (office 1B or  BEPH )
• Analysing international oil and gas market
  evolution - assessing and ensuring oil and gas
  supplies, esp. by developing contacts with
  producing countries (office 1C)
• Furthering development of competitive oil and gas
  and service industries, esp. through cooperation
  with Institut Français du Pétrole (IFP) and a
  special fund for the support of oil and gas
  technical research (office 1A)

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Missions of BEPH

• Participation, in association with other
  departments, in the procedures for review and
  renewal of oil and gas prospecting and production
  titles (1) (technical assessment, arbitration in
  the event of competition)
• advising oil companies on the preparation of
  their applications
• updating of the oil and gas database of French
  subsoil, by collecting from the operating
  companies all data related to oil and gas
  exploration and production activity.
• giving access to public data and information
• promoting French oil and gas acreage
• (1) and also gas, oil products and chemicals
  underground storage sites

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Exploration permit terms - 1

• Three periods possible, 3 to 5 years per period
• Area reduction compulsory at each renewal
• 50 at first renewal, 25 at second renewal
• Relinquished areas freely chosen by owner(s)
• Right of renewal conditioned by fulfillment of
  financial commitments

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Exploration permit terms - 2

• No area limitation (grid pattern in decigrades)
• No rental fees
• Farm-in/Farm-out possibility
• Exclusive right to apply for a production
  concession

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Evolution of onshore acreage
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Evolution of offshore acreage
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BEPH publications

• Annual report
• Oil and gas acreage map
• Monthly bulletin
• Well and seismic base maps (on request)
• Web pages (French and English) at
  http//www.beph.net/

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Availablity of seismic data

• 10 years confidentiality period for raw data
• Processed and interpreted data remaining
  confidential
• Possibility to view sections for quality check
• Part of data stored by BEPH, but main part stored
  by the companies (mainly TOTAL, ESSO Rep)
• Database (ACCESS Mapinfo GIS)

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Availability of well data

• Complete collection of well reports and logs at
  BEPH
• Confidentiality
• 10 years for offshore and field wells
• immediately released for onshore exploration
  wells
• Database (ACCESS Mapinfo GIS)

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Key figures on BEPH database

• Seismic data
• raw data number of media 5,000
• paper reports (field reports) 2,000
• seismic sections (confidential) 26,000
• Well data
• well project reports (confidential) 4,000
• final well reports 4,000
• final composite logs 4,800
• well logs 28,000 rolls
• well cuttings 8,500 boxes

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BEPH database digitalization progress

• Seismic data
• raw data cartridges and/or CDrom
• seismic sections (confidential) .tif files (on
  CDRom)
• Well data
• final well reports gt 2,000 out of 4,000
  scanned and stored in .pdf format
• final composite logs 4,800 scanned, in .tif
  format
• well logs small part on tapes/cassette
  scanning in progress since march 2005 (-gt .tif
  files)

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Exploration permit awarding process

• Application possible at any time, provided the
  chosen area is free (no exploration permit, no
  production title)
• Application reviewed at the central and at the
  local levels
• Competition process (90 days after publication of
  application in the EU Official Journal)
• Duration gt one year