Paragon Offshore Provides Fleet Status Report And Business Update

HOUSTON, March 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Paragon Offshore plc ("Paragon") (NYSE: PGN) announced today that it issued a report on drilling rig status and contract information as of March 16, 2015.  The report, titled "Fleet Status Report," can be found on the Company's website at www.paragonoffshore.com, under the "Our Fleet" section of the website.

In addition, Randall D. Stilley, Paragon's President and Chief Executive Officer, provided comments on various aspects of Paragon's business.

"As shown in the most recent Fleet Status Report, Paragon has added additional backlog through new contracts in the North Sea and West Africa," said Mr. Stilley.  "We are also involved in positive contract negotiations in the Middle East, one of the largest and most active jackup markets in the world.  Year-to-date, Paragon has added $92 million in contract backlog compared to $32 million added during the comparable period in 2014."

Mr. Stilley also commented on the status of Paragon's rigs working in Mexico. "As we reported during our recent earnings call, Paragon has been in discussions with our customer, Pemex, regarding the contract status of our rigs. We continue discussions with respect to Pemex's drilling plans for 2015 and will update the market when we have more clarity.  In the meantime, a number of rigs continue to work under 'Well in Progress' provisions in their current contracts."

In addition, Paragon reported today that it has repaid the outstanding Prospector Offshore S.A. ("Prospector") term loan, of which approximately $262 million was outstanding at the time of payoff, including principal and accrued costs.  The payment was made using the company's current cash and revolving credit facility.  Paragon expects that Prospector will remain an unrestricted subsidiary as defined in the company's debt agreements.

"It was not a surprise in the current low oil price environment that certain members of the Prospector term loan group decided to exercise their change of control rights," said Mr. Stilley.  "However, as we discussed on our earnings call, we are pursuing alternate financing for the two Prospector operating rigs that would allow us to pay down our revolver.  In the meantime, our operations continue to generate cash and our liquidity is sufficient."

About Paragon Offshore Paragon is a global provider of offshore drilling rigs.  Paragon's drilling fleet includes 34 jackups, including two high specification heavy duty/hash environment jackups, and six floaters (four drillships and two semisubmersibles). Paragon's primary business is contracting its rigs, related equipment and work crews to conduct oil and gas drilling and workover operations for its exploration and production customers on a dayrate basis around the world. Paragon's principal executive offices are located in Houston, Texas. Paragon is a public limited company registered in England and Wales with company number 08814042 and registered office at 20-22 Bedford Row, London, WC1R 4JS, England. Additional information is available at www.paragonoffshore.com.

Forward-Looking Disclosure Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements. Statements regarding contract status and duration, contract extensions, backlog, dayrates, Paragon's future operations in Mexico, the designation of Prospector as an unrestricted subsidiary under Paragon's debt agreements, as well as any other statements that are not historical facts in this release, are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These include but are not limited to risks associated with the general nature of the oil and gas industry, actions by customers and other third parties, and other factors detailed in the "Risk Factors" section of Paragon's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, and in Paragon's other filings with the SEC, which are available free of charge on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated.

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SOURCE Paragon Offshore plc