Pride South Pacific Commences Work Offshore Angola

Pride's deepwater semisub, Pride South Pacific, has commenced working offshore Angola under a contract with Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corporation. The contract has an estimated duration of approximately one year.

Paul A. Bragg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pride, commented, "With the Pride South Pacific now working in West Africa, we have 100% of the available time for our seven deepwater assets committed for 2003. We also have 96% of the available time for 2003 committed for our eleven floating rigs in total. The backlog from these eleven units will contribute approximately $425 million in revenues for 2003."