Grapevine

Inuvialuit Energy Inc. Completes Acquisition of Granisko Resources Assets

Russell Newmark, Chairman and CEO of the Inuvialuit Energy Inc. (IEI) recently announced that IEI has concluded the acquisition of certain assets of Granisko Resources Inc. from Price Waterhouse. These assets include a sour gas processing plant with a capacity of 44 million cubic feet per day, natural gas reserves of II billion cubic feet, natural gas liquids reserves of 840,000 barrels and 30,000 net acres of undeveloped land. All assets are located in the Rainbow Lake area of north west Alberta, outside the boundary of the Hay Zama Complex environmental area.

IEI will tie-in two Keg River gas wells located near the gas plant that are currently shut- in. Each well has the capability of sustained production of 5 million cubic feet of gas per day with condensate and natural gas liquids content of 70 barrels per million cubic feet. In addition to the tie-ins, IEI intends to drill two additional Keg River step-out wells this winter. IEI has a 100% working interest in these wells and 36 sections of offsetting undrilled lands. IEI will undertake an aggressive drilling program during the winter on the undeveloped lands acquired from Granisko and will also pursue third party gas to fill the gas plant by offering attractive terms for processing.

Granisko was a public oil and gas company listed on the Montreal Stock Exchange which was placed in receivership in 1995. In consideration for the assets acquired, a private Alberta corporation representing Trust Company of the West (TCW) has been granted 22.5% of the common equity of IEI. TCW is a Los Angeles based investment management firm with over $50 billion (US) under management and is one of the leading financial institutions in North America.

Inuvialuit Energy Inc. Announces Board of Directors and Officers

Inuvialuit Energy Inc. (IEI) is pleased to announce that the following individuals have agreed to serve as directors and officers of the Corporation:

Russell Newmark, Chairman of the Board, Director and CEO, who is also Chairman of the Board, Director and CEO of the Inuvialuit Petroleum Corp. of Calgary, Executive Vice President of E. Gruben's Transport of Tuktoyaktuk NWT and a Director of Norterra Inc. of Edmonton.

Fred Bennett, Director, who is also a Director of the Inuvialuit Petroleum Corp., Director of the Inuvialuit Regional Corp. and is Chairman of the Paulatuk Community Corp.

Authur Carlson, Director, who is also the Managing Director of the Trust Company of the West of Los Angeles California and a Director of Tidewater Inc.

Frank Carmichael, Director, also Vice-Chairman of the Board and a Director of the Inuvialuit Petroleum Corp. of Calgary and President of Arctic Wings and Rotors of Inuvik, NWT.

The Right Honourable Joe Clark, P.Sc., C.C., Director, also Principal Partner of Joe Clark & Associates Ltd., elected six times to the House of Commons of Canada, served as Prime Minister of Canada, Leader of Her Majesty' s Loyal Opposition, Secretary of State for External Affairs, President of the Privy Council and Minister Responsible for Constitutional Affairs.

Ray Graydon, Director, a Portfolio Manager for the Merchant Banking Group of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board.

Gordon Milne, Director, also a Director of the Inuvialuit Petroleum Corporation, and Vice President of Finance and CFO of Agrium Inc.

J. Allan Taylor, Director, President and COO, has been a senior executive if IEI, the Inuvialuit Petroleum Corp. and predecessor companies since 1981.

James Burns, Vice President Exploration, who has over 18 years of industry experience and ha held his current position since 1994.

Darwin Little, Vice President of Finance and CFO, has held senior positions in Finance with IEI and the Inuvialuit Petroleum Corp. since 1991.

Thomas Zuorro, Vice President Land, has held senior positions in the land department with IEI and the Inuvialuit Petroleum Corp. since 1988.

The appointment of this group of highly respected and well known professionals with an extremely diverse set of experiences and abilities will be of great benefit to IEI as they move forward.

Inuvialuit Energy Inc. is a rapidly growing Calgary based western Canada oil and gas exploration and production company. It is owned by the Inuvialuit Petroleum Corp. (59.4%), the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board (23.4%) and the nominee of Trust Company of the West (17.2%). IEI has total reserve of 86 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 3.1 million barrels of oil and liquids, production of 11.5 million cubic feet per day of natural gas and 800 barrels of oil and liquids per day and over 200,000 net acres of undeveloped land.

Western Geophysical Introduces Revolutionary Solid Streamer Technology for Seismic Vessels

Western Geophysical, a division of Western Atlas Inc. (NYSE: WAI), recently announced a new proprietary technology for seismic streamers that will significantly increase the efficiency and productivity of marine surveys. For the first time, seismic sensor have been incorporated into new streamers made of a solid, flexible material, which is a major improvement over current oil-filled plastic cables.

This technological breakthrough, which has been developed jointly with Thomson Marconi Sonar Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia, will dramatically reduce the lifecycle cost for streamers and improve acquisition efficiencies during seismic surveys. Western Atlas has an exclusive multiyear supply agreement with the manufacturer of the new technology.

The major advantages of the new cable are its strength and reliability, which enable it to be retracted back onboard the vessel while the vessel is still moving forward. This feature also extends acquisition time in hostile environments such as the North Sea where seismic vessels can operate only during relatively short weather break .

The Western Legend, the Company's first vessel to be fully equipped with the new streamer technology, will upgrade its capacity to eight streamers during the coming winter season, with other vessels to follow. The new solid streamer can be used in combination with the Company's advanced 24-bit electronic modules and acquisition systems, allowing a smooth transition at a very limited investment.

CGG-Geoterrex Acquire GEONEX Data Library

CGG-Geoterrex is pleased to announce that they have acquired the Aero Service non-exclusive data library from GEONEX.

This database when combined with the existing non-exclusive database at Geoterrex will consist of over 3 million line miles of aeromagnetic data (worldwide) which is available for licensing. Many of the datasets are interpreted. on-exclusive gravity data is also available through CGG-Geoterrex.

Geotechnica Cologne – International Trade Fair and Congress

The fourth geotechnica will be held in Cologne, from May 13-16, 1997. The International Trade Fair and the Congress for the Geosciences and Geotechnology, is organized once again by the Alfred Wegener Foundation.

Call for Papers – Fifth International Congress of the BGS

The Fifth International congress of the Brazilian Geophysical Society (BGS) will be held September 28 - October 2, 1997 in Sao Paulo. The congress is intended to foster the advance and integration of the various geophysical sciences and the cooperation among universities and business enterprises, worldwide scientific organizations and individual geophysicist and to promote general educational activities.

The technical program will include oral and poster sessions on the following topics: atmospheric & space sciences, earth solid geophysics, marine geophysics, geophysics applied to oil exploration, to groundwater exploration, to mining. to engineering, environmental and geological mapping. Deadline for extended abstracts is May 30, 1997. For more information, contact: TECHNICAL PROGRAM COMMITTEE, Vitorelli, Icaro/Padilha, Antonio L., Telephone: 55-123-25-6784 or 55-123-256807, Fax: 55-123-25-6810, Email: icaro@dge.inpe.br; padilha@ das.inpe.br; or cisbgf@iag.usp.br.

10th Annual SAGEEP Showcases Shallow Geophysics for Cost-Effective Solutions to Engineering Problems

The Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Environmental and Engineering Problems (SAGEEP) will be held March 23-16, 1997, at John Ascuaga's Nugget Hotel, Reno, Nevada. SAGEEP is the national meeting of the Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society.

Shallow geophysical surveys are used more and more to find cost-effective ways to define water contaminant pathways, identify old landfill sites, evaluate existing structures and locate development hazards such a sinkholes and archaeological sites. Although shallow geophysical techniques have been widely used in the past, ever increasing pressure for lower cost and increased resolution continue to generate innovative developments in equipment, survey methods and data interpretation.

SAGEEP '97 will present three days of technical sessions and poster presentations in hydrology, environmental site assessments, radio active waste management, mining, cavity & void geophysics, borehold geophysics, 3-D/tomography, geotechnical & geophysical case histories, forensics/archeology, unexploded ordinances, research and new technologies, and more.

Additional focal points at this year's symposium include three short courses, An Introduction to Near Surface and Environmental Methods and Applications; Geophysics in Law Enforcement; and Near-Surface Geophysical Inversion, plus equipment demonstrations, software presentations, and keynote addresses including remote sensing expert, Dr. lames Taranik, Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada.

For registration or other information, contact Jayne Sturges, SAGEEP, 7632 E. Costilla Avenue, Englewood, CO 80112, Phone: (303) 771-2000, Fax: (303) 843-6232, Email 103443.720@compuserve.com.

Independent Geophysical Company Develops New Generation Seismic System with Seamless Data Transmission Capability

Moving away from conventional design, Houston-based Fairfield Technologies has created a universal seismic data acquisition system that uniquely adapts to cable, telemetry, data storage or any combination of the technologies from a single recording unit.

The "BOX, Seismic Data Net" was developed with proven technologies from companies outside the seismic industry to result in a system that has multi-data transmission methods which can be mixed at will. The unit operates across land, shallow water or transition zones; all exploration environments except for deep marine.

Fairfield utilized engineering and manufacturing talents from the hardware, software and cellular industries to construct their unique system. The radio transmission scheme was configured by Wireless Systems International, Ltd. The system is capable of transmitting 8,000 seismic channels in real time via radio, cable, stored data or any combination of the three technologies. The system's recording management software was developed by Seismic Image Software.

Adapting a "commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)" initiative from the U.S. navy, Fairfield harnessed all recent advances in seismic data acquisition technology in the system design. The approach enabled the company to create a lightweight, effective product with a ready supply of quality component parts which conform to internationally agreed-upon formats and protocols, and result in quick availability of spares, replacements and repairs.

The BOX is currently under test, and a large system has already been ordered by a Fairfield client for deployment in the third quarter of 1997. Fairfield's system will allow adaptability at a fixed cost, netting even the small contractor an advantage in the most important aspect of seismic acquisition profitability, maximizing utilization of equipment. The system's simplified graphics-driven user interface, automated quality control functions and industry-standard components will decrease the need for training operators, allow adjustments from remote locations and lower maintenance and repair costs.

Western Geophysical Licenses Lamont 4-D Technology for Enhanced Oil Recovery

Western Geophysical and Columbia University have entered into a joint agreement to bring to market new software technology that can help locate untapped oil and gas reserves, allowing more production from existing wells.

The technology, consisting of patented Lamont 4-D software, will be available from Western Geophysical as part of a service package or as a licensed software product. The agreement grants Western Geophysical the exclusive worldwide license to this technology for the analysis of time-lapse seismic data to monitor fluid changes in reservoirs.

Designed by scientists at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York, the Lamont 4-D software was developed in conjunction with a consortium of seven oil companies. It has been tested in 15 oil fields in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and is currently being used in almost half of the active 4-D projects worldwide.

Western Geophysical will provide distribution, technical support, and further technical enhancement of the Lamont 4-D technology. Columbia University and Western Geophysical have also agreed to collaborate on the development of additional 4-D reservoir technologies in the future.

Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Armenia Negotiate Agreement with AAEC

The Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Armenia is pleased to announce that they have negotiated a petroleum agreement with the Armenian American Exploration Company, a U.S. Corporation.

The Armenian American Exploration Company (AAEC), has as its main shareholder, Mr. Allen Paulson, an American multi-millionaire, who also owns Gulfstream Aviation, a manufacturer of executive jets.

The agreement between the Ministry and AAEC permits AAEC to explore, and if successful, to produce oil and gas within a Contract Area comprising 12,700 square kilometers in the western part of the Republic of Armenia. The agreement also provides for the guaranteed expenditure of a minimum of ten million US dollars in the first five year period of the agreement, and for acquisition of geophysical data and the drilling of three exploratory wells. The agreement negotiated follows normal international petroleum practice in respect of revenue split between Government and AAEC and all other provisions.

Over 19,000 square kilometers of territory in central and south eastern Armenia remains available for licensing to international oil companies.

Inuvialuit Petroleum Corp. Restructures Assets to Maximize Growth

Russell Newmark, Chairman and CEO of the Inuvialuit Petroleum Corp. (IPC) recently announces the completion of a restructuring of its corporate holdings. Subsequent to the acquisition of Omega Hydrocarbons Ltd. in November of 1995, IPC conducted an in depth review of its total holdings and developed a comprehensive business plan designed to maximize corporate value. The creation of two separate operating subsidiaries, the first step in this plan, has now been completed.

The larger subsidiary is Inuvialuit Energy Inc. (IEI). This company holds all the assets acquired through the Omega acquisition, excluding the Waskada oil field located in Manitoba, as well as those assets in western Canada previously held by IPC. In total, these assets produce approximately 800 barrels of light crude per day and 9 million cubic feet of gas per day from total reserves of 2.3 million barrels of oil and liquids and 75 billion cubic feet of natural gas. In addition to producing assets, IEI holds approximately 205,000 net acres of undeveloped land. During the first 9 months of 1996, IEI has participated in the drilling of 24 wells with a success rate of 96%. IEI has identified over $30 million of high potential capital programs which could triple production over the next year. IEI's assets are located in three core areas, Rainbow Lake in north west Alberta, the Siksika Nation immediately east of Calgary and Provost in east central Alberta. These projects are under development with land and seismic in place and some wells drilled and awaiting tie-in. Efforts are also underway to close a significant acquisition and to secure the necessary financing to complete the capital program. IEI will be the principle operating oil and gas company in western Canada for the Inuvialuit group of companies.

The other subsidiary, Omega Hydrocarbons (1996) Ltd. (OHL 96) holds [PC's interest in the mature and fully developed Waskada oil field in south west Manitoba. OHL (96) has an average 89% working interest in this field which currently produces 1,100 barrels of light crude oil per day. Intensive efforts to streamline operations over the past year have succeeded in reducing operating costs by $2.00 per barrel to their current level of approximately $6.00 per barrel.

The Inuvialuit Petroleum Corporation (IPC) retains all assets located north of the 60^th parallel and will be the principle operating company for oil and gas activities in northern Canada for the Inuvialuit group of companies. IPC will undertake a significant capital program in northern Canada this winter. The Company has acquired a 73.2% interest in the Ikhil Significant Discovery License located approximately 30 miles north of the town of Inuvik. The Ikhil K-35 well will be re-entered this winter and production tested to ensure the presence of threshold reserves to confirm the economic viability of a plan to supply natural gas to the town of Inuvik. All fuel consumed in Inuvik is currently imported from southern Canada despite the presence of vast reserves of oil and natural gas in the Beaufort - MacKenzie Delta region. The successful completion of this project will provide significant economic benefits for the residents of Inuvik through lower energy costs along with increased security of supply and reduced environmental degradation.

The Inuvialuit Petroleum Corp. is a Calgary based oil and gas exploration and production company that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation which is beneficially owned by the Inuvialuit, the aboriginal people of Canada's western Arctic region.

Sercel Introduces Ultralight Seismic Data Acquisition Unit

Geoscience products developer Sercel has recently announced it has launched its new SU1-UL Ultralight Station seismic data acquisition unit.

Sercel unveiled the new product at the SEG convention in Denver.

Already the most compact station on the market, the SN-388 electronics now will be available in a unit weighing 3.2 Igs., about 1/3 the size of the current SN388 units.

Coupled with the new lighter, smaller-diameter cables, the company anticipates the product will improve productivity and greatly reduce seismic data acquisition costs in difficult operational areas.

Sercel Names Michael Ledger to Geoscience Products Sales and Marketing Group

Houston-based Sercel has announced Michael Ledger has joined the company's Geoscience Product Sales and Marketing Group.

In this capacity, Ledger will be responsible for promoting the sale of Sercel's product lines including the Opseis Eagle, a 24-bit RF seismic data acquisition system and Sercel's SN-388, a high-quality, 24-bit cable telemetry system.