The awards were announced as part of the competitive 11th UK Landward Licensing Round. Northern Petroleum (GB), operator of the exploration venture, will hold the other 50% interest.

The two licences, PEDL 125 and PEDL 126, are located in the Hampshire area and in the West Sussex area of the Weald and Wessex Basins.

Magellan already holds interests in three other licenses in this part of the Weald-Wessex Basin, which are also operated by Northern Petroleum.

PEDL 126 surrounds the Horndean and Singleton oil fields, and the Wytch Farm oil field to the west is the largest onshore oil field in the UK with recoverable reserves of over 400 million barrels of oil.

Several prospects and leads have already been identified in the new licence areas along trend with the Horndean and Singleton oil fields.