Lynghaug well, Norway

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                10 July 2019

CAIRN ENERGY PLC ("Cairn")

Lynghaug well, Norway

The enclosed announcement has been reported by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) regarding PL758, containing the Lynghaug prospect, in which Cairn has a 50% working interest through Capricorn Norge AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cairn.

Dry well southeast of the Norne field in the Norwegian Sea - 6508/1-3

Capricorn Norge AS, operator of production licence 758, has completed the drilling of wildcat well 6508/1-3.

The well was drilled about 6 kilometres southeast of the Norne field and 200 kilometres northwest of Brønnøysund.

The objective of the well was to prove petroleum in Lower Jurassic reservoir rocks (the Åre formation).

Well 6508/1-3 encountered about 170 metres of alternating layers of sandstone, claystone and coal in the Åre formation, of which a total of nearly 50 metres of sandstone with very good reservoir quality. There are no traces of petroleum in the well, which is classified as dry.

Data acquisition has been carried out.

This is the first exploration well in production licence 758. The licence was awarded in APA 2013.

The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 1663 metres below the sea surface and was terminated in the Åre formation in the Lower Jurassic.

Water depth at the site is 390 metres.

The well will now be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Well 6508/1-3 was drilled by the Transocean Arctic drilling facility, which will now drill wildcat well 6608/11-9 in production licence 842 in the Norwegian Sea, where Capricorn Norge AS is the operator.