Transocean Inc. Announces Resolution to End Nigerian Labor Strike.

Energy Editors/Business Editors

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 2, 2003

Transocean Inc. (NYSE:RIG) today said that a communique has been issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress that instructs striking personnel to cease their action and allow personnel to depart the four company drilling rigs involved in the labor dispute offshore Nigeria. Striking personnel are now cooperating and have granted access to the rigs, and the company has begun transporting non-essential personnel to shore. Arrangements are also being made to replace essential personnel whose earlier planned departure had been delayed by the strike.

The jointly signed communique was issued as the result of a meeting today in Abuja, Nigeria, chaired by the Nigeria Labour Congress and attended by Transocean management, leadership of local and national labor unions, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation. The labor unions represented at the meeting were the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers of Nigeria (NUPENG), whose local branch was responsible for the strike, and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN). The situation on all four rigs remains calm and orderly.

The strike by members of the local branch of NUPENG began on April 16 on the semisubmersible M.G. Hulme, Jr. and on April 19 on the semisubmersible rig Sedco 709 and the jackup rigs Trident VI and Trident VIII. The strike was allegedly called to protest disciplinary proceedings against certain personnel belonging to NUPENG.

Statements regarding the completion of efforts to resolve the labor strike, as well as any other statements that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These include but are not limited to operating hazards and delays, risks associated with international operations, actions by customers and other third parties, the future price of oil and gas and other factors detailed in the company's most recent Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which are available free of charge on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated.

Transocean Inc. is the world's largest offshore drilling contractor with more than 170 full or partially owned and managed mobile offshore drilling units, inland drilling barges and other assets utilized in the support of offshore drilling activities worldwide. The company's mobile offshore drilling fleet is considered one of the most modern and versatile in the world with 13 fifth-generation semisubmersibles and drillships, 15 other deepwater semisubmersibles and drillships, 32 mid-water semisubmersibles and drillships and 55 jackup drilling rigs. Transocean Inc. specializes in technically demanding segments of the offshore drilling business, including industry-leading positions in deepwater and harsh environment drilling services. With a current equity market capitalization in excess of $6 billion, the company's ordinary shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "RIG."