Exhibit 99(a)

                         MAGELLAN PETROLEUM CORPORATION

                             MAGELLAN BOARD APPROVES
                              STOCK REPURCHASE PLAN


         MADISON,  Conn.,  December  8, 2000 -- Magellan  Petroleum  Corporation
(NASDAQ: MPET; Boston & Pacific: MPC) said its Board of Directors has authorized
the open market  purchase of up to one million  shares of the  company's  common
stock. The company said management will determine the timing, terms of purchase,
and the number of shares  actually  purchased,  based on market  conditions  and
other factors,  with purchases conducted in accordance with the applicable rules
of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
         Magellan,   an  oil  and  gas  exploration  company  with  its  primary
operations in Australia,  has  approximately  $15 million of cash and marketable
securities with no long-term debt, a spokesman said,  noting that the company is
in an  excellent  position to proceed to the  drilling  phase of the  aggressive
exploration program initiated in 1998.
         The company also  reported that two of its  directors,  Donald V. Basso
and Hedley  Howard were  elected to three year terms at the  December 4th annual
meeting in Orlando,  Florida, where shareholders approved a proposal to increase
the authorized common stock of the company to 200 million shares .
     Statements  in this press  release  that are not  historical  in nature are
intended to be - and are hereby  identified as --  "forward-looking  statements"
for  purposes  of the  "Safe  Harbor  Statement"  under the  Private  Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain
risks and  uncertainties  that could cause actual  results to differ  materially
from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.


                   Contact: James R. Joyce, at (203) 245-7664