Parker Drilling Company Announces Current Status of Tender Offer and Consent Solicitation for 9-5/8% Senior Notes Due 2013

HOUSTON, March 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Parker Drilling Company (NYSE: PKD) today announced the current status of its cash tender offer and consent solicitation for any and all of the $225,000,000 outstanding principal amount of its 9-5/8% Senior Notes due 2013 (the "Notes") (CUSIP No. 701081AM3, 701081AL5), which is set to expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on April 2, 2010, unless extended or earlier terminated. As of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Friday, March 19, 2010, $96.3 million in outstanding principal amount of the Notes had been tendered to the Company.

The tender offer is conditioned upon, among other things, the completion by the Company of certain related financing transactions that the Company expects to conclude on March 22, 2010.

BofA Merrill Lynch is acting as Dealer Manager for the tender offer. The Depositary is The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A. The Information Agent is D.F. King & Co., Inc. Persons with questions regarding the tender offer should contact BofA Merrill Lynch at (888) 292-0070 (toll free) or (980) 388-4603 (collect). Requests for copies of the Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation Statement or other tender offer materials may be directed to D.F. King & Co., Inc. at (800) 848-2998 or (212) 269-5550 (collect).

This press release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell the Notes.  The offer relating to the Notes is made only by an Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation Statement dated March 8, 2010.

About Parker Drilling Company

Parker Drilling Company provides high-performance contract drilling solutions, rental tools and project management services to the worldwide energy industry. Parker operates 28 land rigs in strategic international markets and 15 offshore barge rigs, primarily in the coastal waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The Company's Rental Tools business rents premium equipment to operators in active land and offshore markets in North America.

http://www.parkerdrilling.com

SOURCE Parker Drilling Company