August 26, 2003 - Oil and gas SmartWell^® intelligent completion specialist WellDynamics has installed its 100th intelligent completion. This is an industry milestone achieved by the company's continual investment and development of the technology, and the dedication and commitment of all 210 employees world-wide.

The 100th SmartWell completion was installed in the BP Foinaven Field Development W15 well in June, 2003. Two separate SmartWell devices were installed enabling BP to manage water injection by controlling flow through a combination of three intervals at the same time. This capability will allow BP to maximise oil production and increase sweep efficiency.

WellDynamics is the world's market leader in intelligent completion technology. The company was formed in 2000 as a joint venture between Halliburton Energy Services and Shell Technology Ventures, following Halliburton's acquisition of PES.

In 1995 PES launched a Joint Industry Project (JIP) to develop a revolutionary new completion technology known as SCRAMS^®. SCRAMS was the first SmartWell intelligent completion system to be developed. The first installation took place in 1997 for Saga in the Snorre Field, Norway.

WellDynamics has since installed four SCRAMS completions in the Snorre B field – for both Statoil and Hydro – and was last month awarded a frame agreement for SmartWell technology with Statoil for the same field.

Mike Fleming, WellDynamics CEO said: "WellDynamics' technology portfolio has expanded since its inception to serve a broader range of market segments.

"The company now offers three distinct product ranges – Direct Hydraulics, Digital Hydraulics™ and SCRAMS. We continue to focus on improving and expanding our product base to enable our customers to maximise return from their reservoirs. For example, the addition of WellDynamics' Accu-Pulse™ system to the Digital Hydraulics or Direct Hydraulics completion will allow discrete positioning of the downhole equipment to enable fine choke control for concise reservoir management."

The technology has been installed in several challenging environments – for example deepwater installations in the Gulf of Mexico, the harsh subsea wells environment in the UKCS and Norwegian sector of the North Sea and integration with sand control systems in poorly consolidated, high productivity reservoirs common to the Gulf of Mexico, offshore West Africa, Asia Pacific, offshore Brazil and the North Sea.

Intelligent completion technology enables the oil and gas operator to reduce CAPEX by enabling remote control of multiple reservoir intervals, thus reducing the number of wells required to develop a field. Using SmartWell intelligent completion technology for controlled commingling will enhance project NPV by enabling economic development of marginal fields. The ability to control the reservoir intervals independently and remotely reduces OPEX by limiting the intervention required to re-configure the well during the field life and minimizes the impact of reservoir uncertainty.

Mr Fleming continued: "There are demonstrable benefits of the application of SmartWell technology in every oilfield market. However, the adoption rate of the technology varies with Nigeria, Angola , Gulf of Mexico, Middle East and Brazil as key future areas of growth with continued uptake anticipated from the early adopters in Norway, Brunei and UKCS markets.

"WellDynamics is well placed to maintain its pole position in the intelligent completion market using the unparalleled experience gained from our 100 wells – which compares favourably with a combined count of over 60 installations for all our competitors combined.

In addition, we've recently been awarded contracts with a number of key operators and have forthcoming installations scheduled for Petrobel, Petrobras and Saudi Aramco amongst others."

The technology has attracted its fair share of attention. Earlier this year, WellDynamics' SmartWell installations in Marathon's 7,209ft water depth Camden Hills project was named as the world's deepest subsea completion in Hart's E&P Drilling and Production Records.

In addition, Digital Hydraulics™ was awarded the Scottish Offshore Achievement Award for Innovative Technology in 2002 and a Hart's Meritorious Engineering Awards for Innovation in 2003.

Ends

Issued on behalf of WellDynamics by Weber Shandwick Worldwide. For further information please contact John Macdonald or Bill Phillips on (01224) 806600

Notes to Editors

Direct Hydraulics is simple all hydraulic system offering cost effective flow control for up to three reservoir intervals. Digital Hydraulics is a mid-range system offering hydraulic multi-drop control of multiple reservoir intervals.

Both Digital Hydraulics and Direct Hydraulics can be integrated with independent permanent downhole gauges for pressure and temperature monitoring. At the high-end of the WellDynamics product range is SCRAMS which is a premier electro hydraulics system with full system redundancy. SCRAMS can control multiple intervals with fine control of flow and has integral pressure and temperature monitoring.

WellDynamics is the world’s market leader in intelligent completion technology. Formed as a joint venture between Halliburton Energy Services and Shell Technology Ventures, WellDynamics uses advanced intelligent well technology to deliver the world’s premier solutions for surface controlled reservoir monitoring and management of complex wells.

As well as its operations in Houston and Aberdeen, WellDynamics has a manufacturing plant in Livingston Scotland, and sales teams and operations in Norway, Brazil, Italy, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Brunei and Australia.

Media Contact

Robin Swanger
+1.281.297.1276