OREANDA-NEWS. Eurasia Drilling CompanyLimited (“EDC” or the”Company” - LSE: EDCL), the leading onshore and offshore drillingservice provider in the CIS, announces today that Dragon Oil plc (Ticker:DGO), an international independent oil and gas exploration, development andproduction company, has awarded a three year contract to BKE Shelf (asubsidiary of EDC) for the provision and management of jack-up rigs NEPTUNE and MERCURY in the Cheleken Contract Area, Turkmenistan in the CaspianSea.

Thenew build NEPTUNE drilling rig isexpected to be available in early 4Q 2013 and will provide well drillingservices for nine months; the second new build MERCURY drilling rig is anticipated to be available in 4Q 2014 andwill provide well drilling services for the remainder of the term.

Dr. Alexander Djaparidze, EDC's Chief ExecutiveOfficer, commented,

“We are very pleased to have been awarded a multi-yearcontract by Dragon Oil for our new-build jack-ups NEPTUNE and MERCURY. The award marks continuation of our successfulcooperation with Dragon Oil and expands our work scope in the growing CaspianSea market that offers significant exploration and development potential.”