Intel Press Release

Schlumberger And Intel Open First U.S. Energy Competency Center

Customers Can Test Drive Latest Reservoir Simulation Technology

HOUSTON, July 10, 2003 - Schlumberger Information Solutions (SIS) and Intel Corporation today announced the opening of the Intel® Energy Competency Center, the first computing solutions site of its kind in the U.S., located in the SIS headquarters in Houston.

Oil and gas companies depend heavily on computer simulations of their reservoirs to accurately forecast hydrocarbon reserves, expedite reservoir development and maximize the profitability of their reserves. The Intel Energy Competency Center provides an environment where energy industry professionals can evaluate the performance and cost benefits of various reservoir simulation scenarios on Schlumberger software, including ECLIPSE® Parallel reservoir simulation software, and open standards-based, Intel-based platforms before they purchase.

"Validating solutions that have been optimized for Intel-based architectures in this 'try-before-you-buy' center brings tremendous value to our customers by allowing them to test-drive a solution and determine the system configuration that best meets their specific needs," said SIS president Ihab Toma. "This has been demonstrated in other competency centers in the Middle East and Europe, and we are pleased to now provide the same level of service and next-generation technology to our customers in North and South America."

Using their own data, customers can run - and then view - their simulations on Intel® Xeon™ processor-and Intel® Itanium® 2 processor-based workstations and servers in cluster configurations from Hewlett Packard. The Intel-based platforms in the center run on both Microsoft* Windows* and Linux operating systems.

"Intel and Schlumberger are committed to accelerating the availability of best-in-class IT solutions to energy customers worldwide," said Dick Bland, worldwide energy industry manager, Intel. "Through our collaboration with Schlumberger, we continue to bring affordable, high-performance computing solutions, such as ECLIPSE software on Intel-based platforms, to the energy industry enabling them to better manage their reserves."

Recent results from the TOP500 list that compiles the fastest supercomputers in the world shows that 119 are Intel-based systems, more than double from the previous ranking only six months ago. The list includes Intel-based high performance computing clusters already deployed by the world's leading energy companies. A complete list of the world's 500 most powerful computers can be found at www.top500.org.

"Powerful, Intel-based solutions have really made their way into key industries, and energy has emerged as a leader in high performance technical computing," states Toma. "This has been driven, in part, by the need to perform more simulations at shorter intervals for more accurate forecasting and better reserves management. Schlumberger and Intel are driving that performance to the next level by expanding the applications available on 32-bit and 64-bit computing architectures. Together, we're helping to make real-time reservoir simulation a reality."

About Schlumberger Information Systems
Schlumberger Information Solutions (SIS), an operating unit of Schlumberger Oilfield Services, is the global industry leader for the supply of integrated business solutions comprising GeoQuest software, information management services, information technology and a complete range of expert services. SIS enables petroleum companies to drive their business performance and enter into the iEconomy. SIS is on the Internet at http://www.sis.slb.com.

Schlumberger is a global oilfield and information services company with major activity in the energy industry. The company employs 78,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in 100 countries, and consists of three primary business segments. Schlumberger Oilfield Services is the world's premier oilfield services company supplying a wide range of technology services and solutions to the international oil and gas industry. SchlumbergerSema is a leading supplier of IT consulting, systems integration, and network and infrastructure services to the energy industry, as well as to the public sector, telecommunications and finance markets. WesternGeco, jointly owned with Baker Hughes, is the world's largest and most advanced surface seismic company. In 2002, Schlumberger revenue was $13.5 billion. For more information, visit www.slb.com.

ECLIPSE is a registered trademark of Schlumberger.

Intel, Intel Xeon and Itanium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.