Thursday, July 20, 2000

COMPANY PRESS RELEASE

Petredat Withdraws Complaints of Patent Infringement Against Halliburton and Spartek

HOUSTON--Halliburton Company, Spartek Systems, and Petroleum Reservoir Data, Inc. (Petredat) announced that they have settled a patent infringement suit brought by Petredat concerning downhole well data recorders. As part of that settlement, Petredat has agreed that Halliburton and Spartek committed no infringement of Petredat’s patent rights or unlawful importation of a competing device. The settlement will allow each of the parties to continue their respective businesses and compete in the market.

Petredat filed a complaint in the International Trade Commission on January 3, 2000, alleging that Halliburton and Spartek infringed its U.S. Patent No. 5,1 30,705 by importing downhole well data recorders manufactured by Spartek. The data recorders are the type that fit in the side-pocket mandrel of wells and record data, such as temperature and pressure.

Both before and during the International Trade Commission investigation, Halliburton and Spartek vigorously denied any wrong-doing and strongly defended their actions. As the investigation proceeded and the parties exchanged information, Petredat agreed to withdraw all of its claims.

The parties have settled the suit on terms that grant to Halliburton and Spartek a world-wide, royalty-free license to make, use, sell, import, and offer for sale the data recorders that were the subject of the investigation. Petredat will also continue to make, use, sell, lease, and offer for sale these recorders.

Spartek / Halliburton / Petredat

SPARTEK specializes in providing the oil and gas industry with high quality data to monitor well performance and diagnose potential problems. The company’s center for research and development, and manufacturing is located in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, with sales and support centers in Canada, United States, Venezuela, China, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific regions. The products developed by the company include quartz pressure gauges, sapphire pressure gauges, well head pressure recorders, production logging instrumentation, and surface acquisition loggers.