Directors' Notification of Dealing in Shares

Cairn Energy PLC
7 July 2000


                 CAIRN ENERGY PLC ('Cairn' or 'the Company')                  
                                                                       
                   Section 329 Companies Act Notification                     
     
                                 
Cairn announces that it received notification on 7 July 2000 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 730,000 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 ('the LTIP').

1. All of the Executive Directors are potential beneficiaries of the Trust,
namely:-

W B B Gammell
K Hart
M J Watts
M S Thoms

2. The transaction notified on 7 July 2000 in relation to the Trust is:-

Date of Transaction       Number of Ordinary        Purchase Price of
                            Shares Purchased         Ordinary Shares    
              
   6 July 2000                  730,000                   £1.70

3. Following this transaction, the total shareholding of the Trust is
1,355,000 Ordinary Shares.

4. The actual number of Ordinary Shares 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 Director          Number of Ordinary           Number of Notional
                         Shares Under Tier 1          Shares Under Tier 2
              
W B B Gammell                 400,000                       500,000
K Hart                        245,000                       450,000
M J Watts                     245,000                       450,000
M S Thoms                     245,000                       450,000