EXHIBIT 99.1


                        TRITON ANNOUNCES TAKEOVER BID
                             FOR CRUSADER LIMITED

DALLAS,  TEXAS--May  16,  1996  -  Triton  Energy Limited announces that Clyde
Petroleum  plc has made an all-cash takeover bid for the outstanding shares of
Crusader  Limited, Triton's 49.9%-owned Australia-based oil and gas affiliate,
at  A$1.62  per  Crusader share.   In the absence of a higher or better offer,
Triton intends to accept the Clyde offer.

Net  proceeds  from the sale of Triton's 53.2 million Crusader shares would be
approximately  US$68  million  at  the current exchange rate of A$.80 per U.S.
dollar.    This  would result in an approximate pretax gain of US$9 million to
Triton,  which the Company would book when the transaction closes, expected in
the third quarter.

In  connection  with  the  takeover,  Triton  has  granted  Clyde an option to
purchase  approximately  20% of Triton's Crusader shareholdings at an exercise
price  of    A$1.62 per share.  This represents 9.9% of Crusader's outstanding
shares.

Crusader's Board of Directors proposes to recommend that Crusader shareholders
accept  Clyde's  offer  unless  a  higher  offer  is made prior to the offer's
expiration date.

Clyde's  takeover offer is subject to various conditions, including acceptance
by  the  holders  of  at least 50.1% of Crusader's shares, approval by Clyde's
shareholders  and  the  Australian  Foreign  Investment  Review Board, and the
absence  of  other various occurrences or dispositions of Crusader oil and gas
assets.

Clyde  is  a  leading  British  independent  exploration  and production group
operating  on  an  international  basis.    It has production interests in the
United  Kingdom,  the Netherlands and Indonesia, with exploration interests in
those  countries,  as  well  as  in  other  selected  areas,  including  three
exploration licenses in northwest Australia.

Triton  Energy Limited (NYSE: OIL) is a Dallas-based international oil and gas
exploration  company  primarily focused on high-potential prospects around the
world.    The Company has participated in several major discoveries, including
the  Cusiana and Cupiagua oil fields in Colombia, considered to be the Western
Hemisphere's  largest  oil find since Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, and the Cakerawala
gas  field  in  the  Malaysia-Thailand  Joint  Development Area in the Gulf of
Thailand.    In  addition,  Triton  has  exploration  activities  under way in
Argentina,  China,  Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Italy, and is negotiating
oil and gas opportunities in other countries.


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  Contact:  W. Greg Dunlevy or Crystal C. Bell, both of Triton, 214-691-5200.
            Roy A. Franklin of Clyde, 011-44-1531-640-811.