ION and LARGEO Announce Geophysical Alliance in Russia

Joint Center to Provide Advanced Seismic Data Processing Services: ION Geophysical Corporation, previously known as Input/Output, Inc., and LARGEO, a Moscow-based seismic data processing company, announced today the formation of an alliance to provide advanced imaging services for seismic data acquired in the Russian market. The alliance, known as LARGEO-ION, combines the technological strengths of ION's GX Technology (GXT) Imaging Solutions group with the local market knowledge and extensive regional processing experience of LARGEO to bring best-in-class imaging services to E&P firms operating in Russia. LARGEO General Director, Andrey Elistratov, stated, "Since our inception in 2004, LARGEO has rapidly gained a presence in the highly competitive Russian market by focusing on technical excellence and responsive service, which allows us to tackle the most complex imaging projects in Russia. Our alliance with ION's GXT group brings together two market leaders and reinforces our commitment to closely align our resources with the needs of our customers." Nick Bernitsas, Senior Vice President of ION GXT Imaging Solutions, commented, "We believe our collective processing experience, advanced technology, market knowledge and personnel will allow LARGEO-ION to deliver the highest quality seismic imaging with reduced turnaround time. The opening of this Russian processing center marks a key milestone in the global expansion of GXT's data processing services." Located in Moscow, the LARGEO-ION Imaging Center will deliver a broad range of advanced seismic data processing services with an initial focus on data acquired in the marine environment. The broad scope of imaging services includes: pre-stack depth and time migration, reverse time migration, azimuthal velocity analysis, full-wave imaging, AVO and inversion, velocity modeling, and data conditioning. It is expected that the center will later be expanded to process data acquired onshore, including seismic datasets that require state-of-the-art, high-density, wide-azimuth, full-wave imaging. The Moscow processing center has been outfitted with the latest Linux-based server hardware and advanced data processing technology provided by ION. The center will be staffed principally by LARGEO geophysicists who have been trained by GX Technology at other geophysical service centers around the world. Alexandre Yakovlev, LARGEO General Manager offered, "The alliance between our two companies will create one of the most powerful seismic data processing centers in Russia. We believe LARGEO-ION will be capable of delivering the highest quality seismic images and will allow our E&P customers to rapidly take advantage of the latest data processing innovations such as reverse time migration and full-wave imaging." TengBeng Koid, EVP of Global Business Development at ION, commented, "ION has had a long presence in Russia, the world's second largest oil producer and largest holder of proven natural gas reserves. Many Russian geophysical contractors are equipped with ION's VectorSeis sensors that are well suited for acquiring full-wave data in challenging environments both offshore and onshore. We are delighted to be working with LARGEO to offer advanced seismic data processing services, including full-wave imaging techniques, to our customers."