166. The licence shall be issued, in respect of a given territory, to any person who meets the requirements and pays the annual fee prescribed by regulation.
The fee shall be reduced to one-third where the applicant is, with respect to the same territory, a licensee under another licence issued pursuant to this division for which no fee reduction has ever been granted.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Minister shall refuse to issue(1) an exploration licence for petroleum and natural gas or an exploration licence for brine where the territory concerned is subject to a time limit or a call for tenders pursuant to section 289 for the granting of any mining right relating to petroleum and natural gas or brine;
(2) an exploration licence for underground reservoirs where the territory is subject to a time limit or a call for tenders under section 289 for the granting of such a right.
The Minister shall also refuse to issue, unless the third person agrees to it, an exploration licence for petroleum and natural gas or an exploration licence for brine where the territory concerned is subject to a lease to mine any of those substances or to an application for such a lease held or made by a third person.