Director Shareholding

Cairn Energy PLC
28 April 2005


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                                                   28 April 2005


                  CAIRN ENERGY PLC ('Cairn' or 'the Company')

                 Section 329 Companies Act 1985 Notification

Cairn announces that it received notification on 27 April 2005 for the purposes
of Section 329 of the Companies Act 1985 that the Trustee of the Cairn Energy
PLC Employees' Share Trust ('the Trust') has purchased 750,000 of the Company's
Ordinary Shares of 10 pence each as detailed below. The shares were acquired by
Regent Capital Trust Corporation Limited as Trustee of the Trust. The Trust is a
discretionary trust for the benefit of employees of the Company and its
subsidiaries, which operates in conjunction with the Cairn Energy PLC Long Term
Incentive Plan 2002 ('the LTIP').
     
1.   All of the Executive Directors of the Company are potential beneficiaries 
     of the Trust, namely:-

     Bill Gammell
     Mike Watts
     Kevin Hart
     Malcolm Thoms
     Philip Tracy
     
2.   The transaction notified on 27 April 2005 in relation to the Trust is:-

  Date of            Number of Ordinary Shares     Purchase Price of Ordinary
Transaction                 Purchased                       Shares

27 April 2005                750,000                        £11.90
     
3.   Following this transaction, the total shareholding of the Trust is 
     2,871,192 shares.

4.   The actual number of Ordinary Shares / Notional Shares (excluding those 
     which have previously vested) in which each of the Executive Directors has 
     an interest (subject to certain performance conditions being satisfied) 
     under the LTIP is as follows:-

  Name of        Number of Ordinary Shares Under Number of Notional Shares Under
 Director                    Tier 1                          Tier 2

Bill Gammell                 246,500                         251,400
Mike Watts                   172,500                         190,900
Kevin Hart                   152,400                         185,600
Malcolm Thoms                152,400                         185,600
Philip Tracy                 162,500                         123,000


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