EXHIBIT 10.47

                DESCRIPTION OF GUIDELINES FOR SENIOR EXECUTIVE
                   COMPENSATION BASED ON PERFORMANCE GOALS

The  following  is a description of certain policies and procedures adopted by
the  Compensation  Committee  (the  "Committee")  of the Board of Directors of
Triton  Energy  Limited  (the  "Company") intended to establish guidelines for
determining annual bonuses for senior management of the Company as approved by
the  shareholders  of  the  Company  at  its  1996  Annual  Meeting:

     The  Committee  has  established  annual  guidelines for senior executive
compensation  giving  greater  weight to the Company's share price performance
compared  to that of other companies in a peer group selected by the Committee
than  to  any  other  factor.

     Under the policies and procedures adopted by the Committee, the Committee
(or a subcommittee consisting solely of two or more "outside directors" within
the  meaning  of  Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code) will, within 90
days after the commencement of each fiscal year, establish various performance
goals  for  the then current year utilizing the following criteria ("Operating
Criteria"):

     -          Actual  to  planned  performance;
     -          Increases in proved and probable reserves and success in
                achieving
                significant new  discoveries;
     -          Increases  in  operating  cash  flow;
     -          Improvements  in  capitalization  and  financing  costs;
     -          Increases  in  production;  and
     -          Successful  implementation  and  operation  of expense control
                measures.

     Within  the  same  90  day  period  the  Committee  (or  an  appropriate
subcommittee)  will  determine  the relative weight to be given achievement of
various  Operating  Criteria  and  to  the  stock  market  performance  of the
Company's Ordinary Shares compared to the average performance of the shares of
the  companies in the selected peer group for the fiscal year in question. The
Operating  Criteria  and share price performance objectives will be considered
the  "Performance  Goals"  for  the  year.

     As  soon  as  practicable  after  each  year  end  the  Committee  (or an
appropriate  subcommittee)  will  review  the  Company's  and  management's
performance  in  achieving  the  pre-determined Performance Goals for the then
ended  fiscal year in determining senior management (i.e., the Chief Executive
Officer  and  the  Senior and Executive Vice Presidents who directly report to
the  Chief  Executive  Officer) annual bonuses and base salary adjustments. If
the maximum Performance Goals are achieved, which the Committee would consider
"outstanding",  bonuses  equal  to  100%  of the then ended fiscal year's base
salary  will  be  awarded  to  the Chief Executive Officer and 75% of the then
ended  fiscal  year's  base  salary  will  be awarded to senior executives who
report  to  the Chief Executive Officer, provided that no bonus awarded to any
individual  executive  officer  under these procedures will exceed $1 million.
The  Committee  would  award  smaller  bonuses  if  the Performance Goals were
achieved  to  a  lesser  extent. The Committee retains the discretion to award
stock  options  to  eligible  recipients,  including  senior  management.