INOVA Completes First Sale and Delivery of Its G3i™ Seismic Data Acquisition System

HOUSTON, March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

INOVA Geophysical announced the first sale and delivery of G3i, their newly released mega channel recording system. G3i advances the field of land cable-based seismic technology by providing flexible recording capabilities for smaller 2D to ultra-high channel count 3D operations, offering a rugged, single system platform that reduces the amount of field equipment required for optimal field operations. BGP, one of the industry's largest land contractors, with extensive operations worldwide, has purchased this high capacity system for immediate use for a project in Western China.

INOVA collaborates closely with all its customers to develop products that meet the advanced technical requirements and tough field specifications needed to produce consistent, high quality data. BGP participated throughout G3i's development and initial field testing in November 2011. Following High Productivity Vibroseis (HPVS) testing in February, BGP purchased the original 5,000 channels used in the initial field testing and ordered an additional 10,000 in preparation for a large 3D HPVS project scheduled to begin in early April.

Mr. Wang Tiejun, President of BGP stated, "We were very impressed with the results of the G3i field testing.  After witnessing the system's ruggedness and functionality, we believe that this system will offer geophysical crews, like ours, a competitive edge toward more productive and efficient acquisition.  Based on the system's performance, we feel that the G3i system will be a valuable equipment asset for our crews because of its breadth and capabilities to fulfill our high channel count acquisition requirements. Because of the shared success of both field tests, we have committed to an initial purchase of 15,000 channels, which we plan to use for multiple key projects this year."

Steve Bate, President and Chief Executive Officer of INOVA said, "We work closely with our customers to develop our products and rigorously test them, both in the lab and in the field, until we are confident they are ready for commercial usage. G3i's final field tests met our expectations and, more importantly, the expectations of our customer. When BGP selected G3i for immediate use for their project in Western China, we leveraged our manufacturing capabilities in Calgary to produce and deliver the system quickly. I am proud of the 'can-do' spirit of our Calgary manufacturing team and their commitment to meeting BGP's requirements.

"We are committed to developing high-quality products, like G3i, and to being a technology provider who is customer-focused and responsive to our customers' needs," said Bate. "We're pleased BGP selected G3i and believe it offers the industry a versatile, portable and rugged technology choice for conducting a variety of acquisition programs in areas all over the world."

To learn more about INOVA's next generation cable based land system, visit http://www.inovageo.com/G3i.

About INOVA Geophysical Equipment Limited

INOVA Geophysical Equipment Limited is a leading provider of land geophysical technology, including source and source control systems, cabled and cableless land acquisition systems, and advanced seismic sensors. Managed as an independent company, INOVA is a joint venture owned 51% by BGP (a wholly-owned subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation) and 49% by ION Geophysical Corporation (NYSE: IO). Additional information about INOVA is available at http://www.inovageo.com.

About BGP

BGP is one of the world's leading geophysical service companies, delivering a wide range of technologies, services and equipment to the oil and gas industry world-wide. They are engaged in seismic data acquisition, processing, interpretation, GME and multi-client surveys, equipment manufacturing and software R & D. More information about BGP is available at http://www.bgp.com.cn/.

CONTACTS
INOVA
Ms. Pamela Merritt
Director of Marketing
Phone: +1-281-568-6084