News Releases

    TSX SYMBOL: TDG

    CALGARY, April 3 /CNW/ - The following information is being provided to
assist U.S. individual shareholders of Trinidad Drilling Ltd (formerly
Trinidad Energy Services Income Trust) ("Trinidad") in reporting distributions
received during 2007 on their Internal Revenue Services ("IRS") Form 1040,
"U.S. Individual Income Tax Form" ("Form 1040").
    This summary is of a general nature only and is not intended to be legal
or tax advice to any particular holder or potential holder of Trinidad.
Holders or potential holders of Trinidad should consult their own legal and
tax advisors as to their particular tax consequences of holding Trinidad trust
units.

    Qualified Dividends

    In consultation with its U.S. tax advisors, Trinidad believes that its
trust units should be properly classified as equity in a corporation and that
dividends paid to individual U.S. unitholders should be "qualified dividends"
for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As such, the portion of the
distributions made during 2007 that are considered dividends for U.S. federal
income tax purposes should qualify for the reduced rate of tax applicable to
capital gains. However, the individual taxpayer's situation must be considered
before making this decision.
    Trinidad has not received an IRS letter ruling on this matter, although
it has obtained a tax opinion from its tax advisors.

    Trust Units Held Within a Qualified Retirement Plan

    No amounts are required to be reported on a Form 1040 where Trinidad
trust units are held within a qualified retirement plan.

    Trust Units Held Outside a Qualified Retirement Plan

    With respect to cash distributions paid during the year to U.S.
individual unitholders, 83.1 per cent should be reported as "qualified
dividends" and 16.9 per cent should be reported as a return of capital (to the
extent of the unitholder's U.S. tax basis in their respective units). The
table below summarizes the distributions paid by Trinidad in 2007.
    "Qualified dividends" should be reported on Line 9b of Form 1040, unless
the fact situation of the U.S. individual unitholders determines otherwise.
Commentary on page 23 of the Form 1040 IRS Instruction booklet for 2007 with
respect to "qualified dividends" provides examples of individual situations
where the dividends would not be "qualified dividends". Where, due to
individual situations, the dividends are not "qualified dividends", the amount
should be reported on Schedule B - Part II - Ordinary Dividends and Line 9a of
Form 1040.
    For U.S. federal income tax purposes, in reporting a return of capital
with respect to distributions received, U.S. unitholders are required to
reduce the cost base of their trust units by the total amount of distributions
received that represent a return of capital. This amount is non-taxable if it
is a return of cost base in the trust units. If the full amount of the cost
base has been recovered, any further return of capital distributions should be
reported as capital gains.
    U.S. unitholders are encouraged to utilize the Qualified Dividends and
Capital Gain Tax Worksheet of Form 1040 to determine the amount of tax that
may be otherwise applicable.
    The taxable portion (for Canadian income tax purposes) of the
distributions paid to a non-resident of Canada is subject to a minimum
15 per cent Canadian withholding tax that is withheld prior to any payments
being distributed to unitholders. Where trust units are held outside a
qualified retirement account, the full amount of all withholding tax should be
creditable, subject to numerous limitations, for U.S. tax purposes in the year
in which the withholding taxes are withheld. Where trust units are held in a
qualified retirement account, the same withholding taxes apply but the amount
is not generally creditable for U.S. tax purposes.
    The amount of Canadian tax withheld should be reported on Form 1116,
"Foreign Tax Credit (Individual, Estate, or Trust)". Information regarding the
amount of Canadian tax withheld in 2006 should be determined from your own
records and is not available from Trinidad. Amounts over-withheld, if any,
from Canada should be claimed as a refund from the Canada Revenue Agency no
later than two years after the calendar year in which the payment was paid.
    Investors should report their dividend income and capital gain (if any),
and make adjustments to their tax basis in Trinidad's units, in accordance
with this information and subject to advice from their tax advisors. U.S.
individual unitholders who hold their Trinidad trust units through a
stockbroker or other intermediary should receive tax reporting information
from their stockbroker or other intermediary. We expect that the stockbroker
or other intermediary will issue a Form 1099-DIV, "Dividends and
Distributions" or a substitute form developed by the stockbroker or other
intermediary. Trinidad is not required to furnish such unitholders with
Form 1099-DIV. Information on the Forms 1099-DIV issued by the brokers or
other intermediaries may not accurately reflect the information in this press
release for a variety of reasons. Investors should consult their brokers and
tax advisors to ensure that the information presented here is accurately
reflected on their tax returns.

    Summary of U.S. Tax Information

    The following table provides, on a per unit basis, the breakdown of the
amount of cash distributions, prior to Canadian withholding tax, paid by
Trinidad for the 2007 fiscal year. The amounts are segregated between the
portion of the cash distribution that could be considered "qualified
dividends" and the portion reported as non-taxable return of capital (and/or
capital gain). The amounts shown on the following table are in U.S. dollars as
converted on the applicable payment dates. This table is for information
purposes only.2007 CASH DISTIBUTIONS INFORMATION
                            FOR U.S. UNITHOLDERS
                                 (US$/Unit)

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       Non-
                                Distri-           Distri-  Taxable   taxable
                                bution            bution  Qualified Return of
                 Distribution    Paid   Exchange   Paid    Dividend  Capital
    Record Date      Date       (CDN$)    Rate     (US$)    (US$)     (US$)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    31-Jan-2007   15-Feb-2007    0.115   0.8592    0.0988    0.0821   0.0167
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    28-Feb-2007   15-Mar-2007    0.115   0.8505    0.0978    0.0813   0.0165
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    31-Mar-2007   16-Apr-2007    0.115   0.8842    0.1017    0.0845   0.0172
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    30-Apr-2007   15-May-2007    0.115   0.9110    0.1048    0.0871   0.0177
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    31-May-2007   15-Jun-2007    0.115   0.9634    0.1108    0.0921   0.0187
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    30-Jun-2007   16-Jul-2007    0.115   0.9588    0.1103    0.0916   0.0186
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    31-Jul-2007   15-Aug-2007    0.115   0.9306    0.1070    0.0889   0.0181
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    31-Aug-2007   17-Sep-2007    0.115   0.9701    0.1116    0.0927   0.0189
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    30-Sep-2007   15-Oct-2007    0.115   1.0248    0.1179    0.0979   0.0199
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    31-Oct-2007   15-Nov-2007    0.115   1.0196    0.1173    0.0974   0.0198
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    30-Nov-2007   17-Dec-2007    0.115   0.9928    0.1142    0.0949   0.0193
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    31-Dec-2007   15-Jan-2008    0.115   0.9834    0.1131    0.0940   0.0191
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Per Unit:               1.38             1.3051    1.0845   0.2206
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------Trinidad Drilling Ltd. is a growth oriented corporation that trades on
the TSX under the symbol TDG. Trinidad's divisions operate in the drilling,
well servicing and barge drilling sectors of the North American oil and gas
industry. With the completion of the current rig construction programs,
Trinidad now has 110 drilling rigs ranging in depths from 1,000 -
6,500 metres. In addition to its drilling rigs, Trinidad has 20 service rigs,
20 pre-set and coring rigs and four barge rigs currently operating in the Gulf
of Mexico. Trinidad is focused on providing modern, reliable, expertly
designed equipment operated by well-trained and experienced personnel.
Trinidad's drilling fleet is one of the most adaptable and competitive in the
industry.

    The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved
    the information contained herein.