Ensco International Incorporated (NYSE: ESV) announced today that ENSCO
8501, the second of seven new ultra-deepwater semisubmersibles in the ENSCO
8500 Series®, commenced operations in the Gulf of Mexico
on October 8 under a three-and-a-half year contract with Nexen and Noble
Energy. The October 15, 2009 Rig Contact Status Report that contains
information on Ensco’s entire fleet is available at www.enscointernational.com.

Chairman, President and CEO Dan Rabun commented, “We have achieved
another important milestone with ENSCO 8501 commencing operations. Ensco
already has invested more than half of the $3 billion committed to the
ENSCO 8500 Series® newbuild program, and we are well on our
way toward having the world’s largest fleet of ultra-deepwater
semisubmersibles capable of drilling in water depths of 7,500’ or
deeper.” Mr. Rabun added, “We now have three ultra-deepwater
semisubmersibles in our active fleet to complement our premium jackups
around the globe.”

As planned with the customer, commencement of operations began by
spudding the initial well followed by a short period of final acceptance
testing (estimated 7-10 days at zero rate in October) before
recommencing operations. No similar planned downtime is anticipated
going forward.

The proprietary design of the ENSCO 8500 Series® 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
operational functionality, repairs, training, spare part requirements
and maintenance, while also providing 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’.

Senior Vice President Carey Lowe stated, “Recent major discoveries in
the ultra-deepwater golden triangle of the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and
West Africa highlight the growing need for ultra-deepwater drilling.
ENSCO 8500 Series® semisubmersibles are ideally suited to
drill in these regions, as well as Australia, Southeast Asia and many
other ultra-deepwater markets.”

ENSCO 8502 and ENSCO 8503 are scheduled for delivery in the first and
fourth quarters of 2010, respectively, each with two-year contracts in
the Gulf of Mexico. ENSCO 8504 is scheduled for delivery in 2011. ENSCO
8505 and ENSCO 8506 are scheduled for delivery in 2012. Keppel FELS
Limited is the builder of the ENSCO 8500 Series® seven-rig
fleet.

Ensco International (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. To learn more
about Ensco, please visit our website at www.enscointernational.com.
Statements contained in this news release that state the Company’s or
management’s intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations, anticipations,
projections, confidences, schedules, or predictions of the future are
forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995.Forward-looking statements include words or phrases such as
“anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,”
“project,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “should,” “will” and words and
phrases of similar import and statements regarding the Company’s beliefs
with respect to the completion and commencement of operations of the
Company’s other ENSCO 8500 Series® rigs.Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
in the forward-looking statements include risks relating to
renegotiation, nullification or breach of contracts with customers,
shipyards, suppliers or other parties, risks inherent to foreign
shipyard rig construction including risks associated with concentration
of our ENSCO 8500 Series® rig construction contracts
in a single foreign shipyard, unexpected delays in rig mobilization,
final acceptance testing, equipment delivery and engineering or design
issues following shipyard delivery, unscheduled downtime and repairs,
availability of transport vessels to relocate rigs, changes in dates our
rigs will be delivered and changes in the dates new contracts actually
commence, and other risks described from time to time as Risk Factors
and otherwise in our SEC filings. Copies of such SEC filings may be
obtained at no charge by contacting our Investor Relations Department at
214-397-3045 or by referring to the Investor Relations section of our
website at http://www.enscointernational.com.All information in this press release is as of today’s date unless
otherwise noted.The Company undertakes no duty to update any
forward-looking statement, to conform the statement to actual results,
or reflect changes in the Company’s expectations.