Magellan Petroleum Executes Contract for 3-D and 2-D Seismic Survey over Australian Offshore Block

Magellan Petroleum Corporation

today announced that it has executed a contract with Seabird Exploration FZ-LLC for the seismic recording vessel Voyager Explorer to undertake a 75 square mile 3-D and an 84 square mile 2-D seismic survey within Magellan's NT/P82 Exploration Permit ("NT/P82"), offshore Australia.  The seismic survey is expected to commence during the second week of December 2012 and to take approximately two weeks to complete.  Magellan plans to process and analyze the seismic data over the following three months to assess the presence and recoverability of hydrocarbons in NT/P82. NT/P82 is an exploration license located in the Bonaparte Basin, 160 miles northwest of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, in which Magellan owns a 100% interest.  The water depths over the license are relatively shallow, ranging from 55 to 400 feet.  Under the terms of the license and pending the results of the seismic survey, Magellan is required to drill a well by May 2015.  The Company expects to incur a total of approximately $4.5 million on shooting, processing, and analyzing the seismic survey data.  "This is an important milestone in Magellan's strategy to prove up the value of its assets.  Acquiring 3-D seismic