Buenos Aires, 31 May 1968

VISTO the need to regulate Law No. 17.319 concerning the obligation to pay the canon,

Article 1 - The payment of the canon established in Articles 57th and 58th of Law No. 17.319 shall be carried out separately with respect to each permit of exploration or concession of exploitation, even if several rights apply to the same person.

Art. 2o... (First paragraph derogated from article 3 of the Decree No. 1770/2005 B.O. 30/01/2006)

When a period of the exploration permit contains a fraction of the year, the amount of the canon corresponding to that fraction will be reduced proportionally and paid after the full annuities of that period. The same criterion will be followed in respect of the fraction of the year that might result in the granting of exploitation.

Art. 3o ­ The increase in the canon generated by the incorporation of new lots into a concession or by the extension of existing ones, which corresponds to the time that it mediates between the administrative act that recognizes the modification and the beginning of the next annual term, will be paid within 30 days of the administrative act referred to. This increase will then be added to the paid canon and the resulting total amount will be omitted within the originally established time limit for the fulfilment of that obligation, referred to in the previous article.

Art. 4o ­ There will be no place for the partial or total refund of the canon, if within the period covered by the canon, the surface of the area of exploration or of the lots of exploitation or cease the rights of permissionaries and concessionaries for any of the cases admitted by Law 17.319, except the cases provided for in this regulation in Articles 5 and 6o.

Art. 5o ­ If the area of an exploration permit is totally or partially affected by a exploitation concession, the sums paid for in exploration canon, in proportion to the time remaining for the fenishment of the annual term and the surface of the transformed area, will be charged to the corresponding exploitation canon.

Art. 6o ­ The amount of the canon will be adjusted in relation to the surface resulting from the deslinde or messure of the area. The amount resulting from this readjustment, which will include the time elapsed from the award of the permit or the concession or the administrative act that recognizes the alteration in the area, shall be paid within thirty (30) days of the administrative approval of such operations or, if any, shall be charged to the payment of the following annuity.

Art. 7o ­ To give effect to the canon for the period of extension provided for in article 57, inc. (b) of Law No. 17.319, the holder of the permit shall pay the amount of the first year within thirty (30) days of the beginning of the extension. This amount shall be calculated by deducting to the maximum applicable canon, the amount of investments committed for the first year of the extension period, to the concurrence of the minimum applicable canon.

The remaining annuities of the period will be paid in the following years at the same time as the one indicated for the initial payment. The calculation of the appropriate amount shall be carried out on the basis indicated in the preceding paragraph, taking into account the amount of the investments committed for each year and applying the increase of fifty per cent (50%) cumulative as referred to in article 57 of Law No. 17.319, until the concurrence of the current minimum canon.

At the end of each year the canon will be adjusted in relation to the actual computable investments made.

Article 8: The readjustments in the canon values that are applied in accordance with Article 102 of Law No. 17.319 shall govern payments after the administrative act provided for them.

Article 9 The amounts of the obligations referred to in this regulation, which are not paid in term, shall accrue in favour of the State, without the need for any interference, an interest equal to that which the Bank of the Argentine Nation perceives in its discount operations, without prejudice to the other legal consequences that may correspond.

Art. 10. The time limits contained in this regulation shall be computed from the day of notification of the relevant administrative act or, if any, from the day on which the person agrees to the second or third period, including in such computing working and inhosable days.

Art. 11. Permissionaries and concessionaires shall make the payment of the canon effective, by depositing in the bank account that will in effect open the application authority, having to submit the proof of the deposit together with an affidavit containing the elements that determine the amount paid, within the period established in the previous article.

Art. 12. This decree will be endorsed by the Minister of Economy and Labour and signed by the Secretary of State for Energy and Mining and Finance.

Art. 13. Contact, post, give to the National Directorate of the Official Register and archvese.

Onganía. Adalbert Krieger Vasena. - Luis M. Gotelli - Cesar A. Bunge