Ensco plc Announces Cash Dividend

Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV) announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of US$0.35 per Class A ordinary share payable on 24 June 2011 to holders of Ensco’s American depositary shares (ADS) as of the 13 June 2011 record date.

As previously reported, Ensco and Pride International, Inc. (NYSE: PDE) each will hold special shareholder meetings on 31 May 2011 to vote on the merger of their companies, creating the world’s second largest mobile offshore drilling fleet. The Ensco and Pride joint proxy statement/prospectus has been distributed to shareholders of both companies and the Ensco and Pride boards of directors have recommended that shareholders vote in favor of the merger.

As disclosed previously, votes for Ensco’s special shareholder meeting on 31 May 2011 must be received by today, 24 May 2011, for the ADS depositary to properly record votes.

In preparation for the special shareholder meetings, Ensco and Pride have satisfied antitrust and securities regulatory requirements and Ensco has successfully completed a $2.5 billion senior notes offering, the net proceeds of which will facilitate the Pride acquisition.

If approved by the shareholders of Ensco and Pride at their respective 31 May 2011 special meetings, the merger is expected to close on the same day, at which point, with exceptions for certain U.K. residents, Pride stockholders will have the right to receive 0.4778 newly-issued shares of Ensco plus $15.60 in cash for each share of Pride common stock per the terms of the merger agreement.

Assuming the merger closes as planned on 31 May 2011, the US$0.35 regular quarterly cash dividend noted above also will be paid on the Ensco shares issued to the former Pride stockholders to holders of Ensco’s American depositary shares (ADS) as of the 13 June 2011 record date.

At the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held today, the vote of a sufficient number of shares were cast to approve all proposals as recommended by the Board of Directors, including the non-binding advisory votes by a majority of shares to approve the compensation of our named executive officers and to hold non-binding advisory shareholder votes on the compensation of our named executive officers every year.

Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV) brings energy to the world as a global provider of offshore drilling services to the petroleum industry. With a fleet of ultra-deepwater semisubmersible and premium jackup drilling rigs, Ensco serves customers with high-quality equipment, a well-trained workforce and a strong record of safety and reliability. Ensco recently earned the top rating for overall customer satisfaction in the leading independent survey conducted by EnergyPoint Research with #1 rankings in 11 out of 16 separate categories. To learn more about Ensco, please visit our website at www.enscoplc.com. Ensco plc is an English limited company (England No. 7023598) with its registered office and corporate headquarters located at 6 Chesterfield Gardens, London W1J 5BQ.

Additional Information

In connection with the proposed acquisition of Pride International, Inc., Ensco filed a registration statement including a definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus of Ensco and Pride with the SEC, which the SEC declared effective on 25 April 2011. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF ENSCO AND PRIDE ARE ADVISED TO CAREFULLY READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS (INCLUDING ALL AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO IT) BECAUSE IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRANSACTION, THE PARTIES TO THE TRANSACTION AND THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TRANSACTION. The definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus will be sent to security holders of Ensco and Pride seeking their approval of the proposed transaction. Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents filed by Ensco and Pride with the SEC from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Security holders and other interested parties will also be able to obtain, without charge, a copy of the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents by directing a request by mail or telephone to either Investor Relations, Ensco plc, 500 N. Akard, Suite 4300, Dallas, Texas 75201, 214-397-3015, or Investor Relations, Pride International, 5847 San Felipe Street, Suite 3300, Houston, TX 77057, 713-917-2020. Copies of the documents filed by Ensco with the SEC are available free of charge on Ensco’s website at www.enscoplc.com under the tab “Investors.” Copies of the documents filed by Pride with the SEC are available free of charge on Pride’s website at www.prideinternational.com under the tab “Investor Relations.” Security holders may also read and copy any reports, statements and other information filed with the SEC at the SEC public reference room at 100 F Street N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at (800) 732-0330 or visit the SEC’s website for further information on its public reference room.

Ensco and Pride and their respective directors, executive officers and certain other members of management may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from their respective security holders with respect to the transaction. Information about these persons is set forth in Ensco's proxy statement relating to its 2011 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, as filed with the SEC on 5 April 2011, and Pride’s Amendment No. 1 to its Annual Report on Form 10-K/A, as filed with the SEC on 29 April 2011, respectively, and subsequent statements of changes in beneficial ownership on file with the SEC. Security holders and investors may obtain additional information regarding the interests of such persons, which may be different than those of the respective companies' security holders generally, by reading the joint proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents regarding the transaction, which have been filed with the SEC.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements included in this document regarding the scheduled shareholder meetings, consummation of the proposed merger transaction, benefits to customers, employees and shareholders, growth potential, timing, effects of the transaction, or other attributes of the combined companies and other statements that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," “contemplate,” "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "could," "may," "might," "should," "will" and words and phrases of similar import. These statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, actions by regulatory authorities, rating agencies or other third parties, actions by the respective companies’ security holders including votes at the special shareholder meetings and pending class action litigation, costs and difficulties related to integration of acquired businesses, delays, costs and difficulties related to the transaction, market conditions, and the combined companies' financial results and performance, satisfaction of closing conditions, ability to repay debt and timing thereof, availability and terms of any financing and other factors detailed in risk factors and elsewhere in each company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, and their respective other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize (or the other consequences of such a development worsen), or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual outcomes may vary materially from those forecasted or expected. All information in this document is as of today. Except as required by law, both companies disclaim any intention or obligation to update publicly or revise such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.