OREANDA-NEWS. May 3, 2012. Eurasia Drilling Company Limited ("EDC" or the "Company" - LSE: EDCL), the leading onshore & offshore drilling service provider in the CIS, today announced its operational and financial update for the three months ending March 31, 2012. The financial data are based on management assessment only and have not been reviewed by external auditors.

THREE MONTHS 2012 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS:

Top line revenue up 50% to USD  746 million (Q1 2011: USD  498 million);

EBITDA margin amounted to 20.3% (Q1 2011: 22.1%);

Net debt position (all debt reduced by cash) was USD  272 million as of March 31, 2012;

Dividend paid for the year ended December 31, 2011 amounted to USD  0.47 per share;

Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment for three months ended March 31, 2012 were USD  105 million compared to USD  51 million for the corresponding period of 2011;

Mr. W. Richard Anderson, EDC’s Chief Financial Officer, commented,

“The solid first quarter has provided EDC with a strong foundation for the full year.  Our impressive growth in revenue was mainly driven by our key business segment- well construction services, which has benefited from the consolidated Schlumberger assets that were acquired at the end of April 2011. All our other business segments have shown good progress as well.  Our EBITDA margin was affected by regular seasonality and a higher component of horizontal drilling with a significant portion of third-party services, which largely pass through us. We are confident that we will reach our financial and operational targets for the year.”

THREE MONTHS 2012 OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:

Drilling output was up 31% to 1,291,633 meters (Q1 2011: 985,137 meters);

Horizontal meters drilled in the first quarter were up 39% to 213 thousand meters (Q1 2011: 153 thousand meters);

Exploration drilling volumes were down 6% quarter-on-quarter;

Sidetracking activity more than tripled and amounted to 44 wells in Q1 2012 as compared to 12 wells sidetracked in Q1 2011;

Our largest customer accounted for  57% of total drilling volumes, compared to 59% in Q1  2011;

During the first quarter of 2012 our ASTRA jack-up rig was employed in Kazakh waters of the Caspian Sea drilling on N Block;

During the first quarter of 2012 we completed one extended reach horizontal development well  on Lukoil’s Yuri Korchagin field platform in the Caspian Sea;

Our SATURN jack-up rig continued its operations for Petronas Carigali in Turkmen waters of the Caspian Sea; three geological sidetracks were performed; and

During the first quarter of 2012 the modules of our 3rd new-build jack-up rig were preparing to ship to the Caspian Sea from Lamprell’s shipyard in the UAE.

Dr. Alexander Djaparidze, EDC’s Chief Executive Officer, added,

“Compared to the Russian drilling market, which grew at 11% quarter on quarter, the growth in our drilling activity is a notable achievement. All our business segments performed at or above our expectations during the reported period. Our continued focus on efficient execution and a solid backlog for the current year provides us with the foundation and the confidence to continue to outperform the market and deliver on our objectives.”