The company’s UK based alliance partner Granby Enterprises has been offered nine exploration blocks under five separate petroleum licence applications.

“Elixir views the region as a prolific oil & gas province and in terms of prospectivity, economics and political risk, it is one of the best places in the world for emerging exploration and production companies,” said the company.

Under the terms of the Elixir-Granby alliance upon formal acceptance and licence award, the interests be assigned to Elixir.

The news had an immediate impact on the company's stock price with early trading pushing prices up 19 cents to 60 cents at the time of print.

All blocks offered are under Promote Licences, which were introduced in late 2003 as a way to encourage more exploration and appraisal drilling in the UKCS particularly by smaller companies.