Polarcus Signs Fleet-wide Agreement With ION for Integrated Marine Technologies

ION Geophysical Corporation announced that its Marine Imaging Systems group was awarded a fleet-wide contract by The Polarcus Group of Companies (Polarcus), a new entrant in the marine seismic market with a green philosophy, to equip all six of its new state-of-the-art vessels with four streamer positioning and control technologies from ION’s Intelligent Acquisition(TM) [IA] portfolio. The contract, with a value in excess of $25 million, includes DigiFIN(TM), CompassBIRD(TM), DigiRANGE(TM) II, and Orca® command & control systems.

Dave Moffat, Senior Vice President of Marine Imaging Systems at ION, stated, “Polarcus is committed to investing in marine technologies that support the operations of an ultra-modern, environmentally-responsible seismic fleet. I am pleased that Polarcus’ experienced management team chose to outfit their entire fleet with four technologies that are core to our Intelligent Acquisition toolkit. Focused on high-end marine acquisition, Polarcus is well positioned to enter the market in 2009 and operate from pole to pole. These [IA] technologies enable the customer to proactively position and optimize the streamer spread while decreasing acquisition complexity, cycle time, and cost in the most challenging surveys and operating conditions. In addition, innovative systems like DigiFIN can help Polarcus reduce its carbon footprint by reducing infill, enabling faster line changes, and speeding cable deployment and retrieval.”

For over 20 years, ION has been the leading provider of advanced positioning systems that enable seismic service providers to operate more efficiently and safely while delivering higher resolution subsurface images to their oil and gas clientele.

– DigiFIN lateral control facilitates denser spatial sampling by maintaining tighter, more uniform cable separation and increases productivity with faster operations and minimal infill. – The CompassBIRD maintains streamers at pre-defined target depths and provides compass heading information, which in conjunction with the DigiRANGE II acoustic ranging system, provides finite source and receiver locations throughout the seismic spread.

– Orca streamlines and automates survey-wide data management and control across all systems and vessels. The advanced software delivers unprecedented spread visibility, control, and stability for modern 2D, 3D, 4D, and wide- azimuth towed streamer surveys.

To learn more about ION’s Intelligent Acquisition technologies, visit www.iongeo.com/ia/.

About ION

ION is a leading provider of geophysical technology, services, and solutions for the global oil & gas industry. ION’s offerings allow E&P operators to obtain higher resolution images of the subsurface to reduce the risk of exploration and reservoir development, and enable seismic contractors to acquire geophysical data more efficiently. Additional information about ION is available at www.iongeo.com.

About Polarcus

Polarcus is a pure play marine geophysical company with a pioneering environmental agenda, specializing in high-end towed streamer data acquisition from pole to pole. Polarcus is launching an ultra-modern fleet of initially 6 advanced seismic vessels designed by Norway’s Ulstein Design AS incorporating the innovative ULSTEIN X-BOW® hull. The vessels are being built in Dubai, UAE, by Drydocks World — Dubai LLC, with the first vessels becoming operational in 2009. Additional information about Polarcus is available at www.polarcus.com