Steel Cutting for First of Frigstad Deepwater Ltd's Ultra Deepwater Newbuilds

The steel cutting ceremony for the first ultra deepwater drilling unit ordered by Frigstad Deepwater Ltd from CIMC Raffles took place as planned at the Haiyang yard in Shandong province, China, on Wednesday 28 August 2013, confirming that the project is on schedule.

The steel cutting was initiated in the presence of government officials and invited guests, including Mr Harald
Frigstad, Chairman of the Frigstad Group, Mr Simen Skaare Eriksen, CEO of Frigstad Offshore and Mr Yu Ya,
President of CIMC Raffles.

"This marks another important milestone for Frigstad and demonstrates that we are forging an even stronger
relationship with CIMC. There are many challenges ahead of us, but by working together towards a common
objective, we can make this a success. We believe in CIMC Raffles and we are grateful that CIMC Group
believes in us" said Harald Frigstad in his speech during the ceremony.

The 7th generation drilling units ordered by Frigstad Deepwater is of the Frigstad D90™ design, developed by
Frigstad Engineering and tailor made for safe and efficient exploration and development drilling in ultra?deep
waters. The rigs will be capable of operating in water depths up to 12,000 feet and drilling to a total depth of
60,000 feet. The units will be outfitted with a DP3 dynamic positioning system, full dual activity hydraulic drilling package with 2 x 1,400 sT hoisting capacity and 2 x seven ram BOPs.

Frigstad Deepwater Ltd has, through its subsidiaries, entered into turnkey construction contracts for the delivery of two ultra deepwater semi?submersible drilling units from CIMC Raffles, with options for another four units. The first two drilling units are scheduled for delivery at the end of Q4?2015 and Q2?2016 respectively and the total project cost is approximately USD 1.3 billion exclusive of financing cost. The construction, marketing and operation of the rigs will be managed by Frigstad Offshore.