Section 4
SEC. 4. A permit area may be validly covered by a subsequent petroleum exploration concession granted under the Petroleum Act of 1949, as amended, or by service contract entered with the Government under Presidential Decree No. 87, but no gratuitous permit shall be issued by the Director of Mines on an area already covered by an existing permit or lease granted under Republic Act No. 5092, and in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder and on any area where natural gas or methane gas deposits are more than 1000 feet deep or when these deposits are associated with crude oil.