INOVA Delivers Hawk™ Nodal System to Tesla Exploration for Deployment in the Marcellus Shale

HOUSTON, June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- INOVA Geophysical today announced that Tesla Exploration Ltd. has purchased 10,000 three-channel stations (30,000 channels) of its cableless Hawk™ autonomous nodal system. The initial shipment of 18,000 channels is being immediately deployed to a project in the Marcellus Shale of West Virginia, and the balance of 12,000 channels will be delivered to Tesla by June 15, 2012. Hawk provides Tesla's crews with better productivity, system flexibility and safety advantages in geographies that are more developed, environmentally-sensitive and present challenging terrains.

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Hawk is unique to other nodes in the industry because it supports both three-channel analog geophones and VectorSeis multicomponent digital sensors with the same field station electronics for better characterization in unconventional plays. The node's rugged exterior, which is built from lightweight, high-grade aluminum, is made to maximize durability and is also a key differentiator to its competitors. Hawk's transcription time is three times faster or more, depending on total volume of production, compared to other nodal systems in the market today. And, crews also have the benefit of advanced drive-by QC features via Wi-Fi link.

Tesla Exploration acquires seismic data for the oil and gas exploration industry across diverse regions of North America and world-wide.  David Buttle, President of Tesla Exploration Inc. (Tesla US subsidiary) said, "We look for equipment that allows our crews to operate efficiently and safely in any environment, so we were impressed with Hawk's ability to download data quickly without a lot of infrastructure. In February of this year, INOVA performed a side by side comparison of the Hawk system deployed next to their cableless recording system using analog and VectorSeis multicomponent sensors. From this test we were able to evaluate and witness productive output of high-quality data acquisition from the Hawk system. We look forward to using the Hawk autonomous node system in our upcoming acquisition projects and believe the system's operational flexibility will be a tremendous asset to our equipment portfolio."

Steve Bate, INOVA's President and Chief Executive Officer commented, "It's our mission to drive the development of products that meet our customers' acquisition needs, and it's important that our products strike a balance between innovative high-technology and usability. We are also committed to providing our customers with the highest level of field support to ensure that they realize immediate success from putting INOVA's innovative products to work on their projects.  Tesla's crews work in tough terrains, and our goal is to give them the equipment and customer support they need to operate efficiently, no matter where their projects take them. We believe that the Hawk system will provide maximum opportunity to utilize their investment on a full array of seismic projects."

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 digital 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 www.inovageo.com.

About Tesla Exploration Ltd.

Tesla Exploration Ltd. and its division Tesla Exploration Inc. offer a complete range of seismic acquisition services to the oil and gas exploration industry, including 2D, 3D, and 3C crews sourced by dynamite, vibroseis or a combination.  Tesla Exploration Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary responsible for operations in the United States of America. For more information visit www.teslaexploration.com

Contacts
INOVA Geophysical
Ms. Pamela Merritt, Director of Global Marketing
Phone: +1-281-568-6084