Director Shareholding

Cairn Energy PLC
27 December 2000

                  CAIRN ENERGY PLC ('Cairn' or 'the Company')                
                                                                             
                                                                              
                 Section 329 Companies Act 1985 Notification                  


Cairn announces that it received notification on 27 December 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 650,000 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 of the Company are potential beneficiaries
of the Trust, namely:-

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

2. The transaction notified on 27 December 2000 in relation to the Trust is:-

Date of Transaction       Number of Ordinary Shares   Purchase Price of
                                   Purchased           Ordinary Shares
              
20 December 2000                    650,000                 £2.15

3. Following this transaction, the total shareholding of the Trust is
3,455,000 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 Shares    Number of Notional Shares
                              Under Tier 1                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