Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV) announced today that one of its subsidiaries has entered into a contract for ENSCO 8506 with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. The initial contract term is for two and one-half years in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico at a day rate of $530,000, plus cost adjustments. The contract adds more than $480 million to revenue backlog.

Delivery of ENSCO 8506 from Keppel FELS Limited shipyard in Singapore is scheduled for third quarter 2012 followed by contract commencement in fourth quarter 2012 once mobilization, sea trials and acceptance testing have been completed.

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Rabun commented, "We are very pleased that Anadarko has chosen to contract a third ENSCO 8500 Series® rig for its drilling programs. Anadarko was an early advocate of the ENSCO 8500 Series® design and contracted ENSCO 8500 back in 2005."

ENSCO 8500 commenced operations in 2009, and soon thereafter, drilled Anadarko's major Lucius Discovery in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. In October 2011, Anadarko contracted ENSCO 8505 as part of a rig sharing agreement with Apache and Noble Energy. ENSCO 8505 is scheduled to commence operations in the second quarter of this year.

ENSCO 8506 is the final of seven rigs in the ENSCO 8500 Series®. For the first three quarters of 2011, these rigs that have operated in Asia, North America and South America achieved 97% utilization. Ensco is ranked #1 in overall customer satisfaction and #1 in deepwater drilling by EnergyPoint, an independent survey firm.

The proprietary design of the ENSCO 8500 Series® rigs was developed with extensive input from customers to address the drilling requirements for virtually every deepwater field around the world. The design includes a 35,000' nominal rated drilling depth, 2 million pounds of hoisting capacity, 8,000 tons of variable deck load and an open layout well suited for subsea completion activities. Improved visibility from the open deck configuration also enhances safety.

The uniform design of the ENSCO 8500 Series® streamlines construction, operations, inventory management, training, regulatory compliance, repairs and maintenance. It also provides flexibility for customer specific enhancements: in particular, the 8500 Series may be modified to drill and complete wells in water depths up to 10,000'.

Ensco plc (NYSE: ESV) brings energy to the world as a global provider of offshore drilling services to the petroleum industry. We are ranked #1 for overall customer satisfaction in the leading independent survey conducted by EnergyPoint Research with #1 ratings in 14 of 16 separate categories. Ensco has served customers for 25 years and operates the world's second largest offshore drilling fleet comprised of dynamically-positioned drillships and semisubmersibles, moored semisubmersibles and premium jackups. 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.

Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "could," "may," "might," "should," "will" and similar words and specifically include statements regarding the timing of delivery, mobilization, contract commencement, relocation or other movement of rigs. Such statements are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results to vary materially from those indicated, including governmental regulatory, legislative and permitting requirements affecting drilling; downtime and other risks associated with offshore rig operations, relocations, severe weather or hurricanes; possible cancellation or suspension of drilling contracts as a result of mechanical difficulties, performance or other reasons; and risks inherent to shipyard rig construction, repair, maintenance or enhancement; actual contract commencement dates. In addition to the numerous factors described above, you should also carefully read and consider "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in Part I and "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II of our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, as updated in our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, which are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or on the Investor Relations section of our website at www.enscoplc.com. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Ensco plc
Sean O?Neill, 713-430-4607
Vice President - Investor Relations and Communications
or
Nicolas D. Robert, 713-430-4490
Manager - Investor Relations
or
Alice Brink, 713-430-4658
Manager - Communications