I/O Wins Meritorious Engineering Awards; Track Record of Innovation Continues with AZIM and VectorSeis Ocean.

Energy Editors/Business Editors

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 2004

Input/Output Inc. (NYSE:IO) announced today that it received two awards for meritorious engineering from Hart's E&P, a leading oil and gas industry publication. I/O won the 2004 Special Meritorious Award for Engineering Innovation for its advanced processing technique called AZIM(TM) and received honorable mention for VectorSeis(R) Ocean, the company's redeployable technology solution for seismic acquisition on the seabed.

Edward Jenner, Director of Research and Development at I/O's GMG/AXIS processing group in Denver, accepted the Hart's E&P award. According to Jenner, "We've used AZIM in basins ranging from the North Slope of Alaska to the Middle East, and our oil company clients have been delighted with the results. AZIM is our proprietary processing technique that accounts for seismic velocity differences in the subsurface and increases the quality of the subsurface image. By factoring in these velocity differences, AZIM enables geoscientists to more accurately map subsurface structures, identify faulting patterns, and optimize drilling locations."

Jenner, the guiding force behind AZIM, has also been honored with the J. Clarence Karcher Award, given annually by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) to the most promising young geophysicist in the oil and gas industry.

Bjarte Fageraas, Vice President of I/O's Marine Imaging Systems Division, commented on the honorable mention for VectorSeis Ocean, "We are delighted with this recognition by Hart's E&P. I/O prides itself as being an innovation leader in seismic technology and this award recognizes that we are making a difference in providing the capabilities to find more oil and gas while reducing costs and cycle times. Coming just two weeks after the sale of our first commercial VectorSeis Ocean system to Terra Seismic Services of Norway, the Hart's E&P award further supports the breakthrough nature of this technology."

I/O is the major independent provider of seismic equipment and acquisition imaging technology for land, marine, and seabed applications. The company also provides software and processing services to the oil and gas industry. Through Concept Systems, I/O offers integrated navigation and data management software and time-lapse 4D seismic services. Through GMG/AXIS, I/O offers specialty seismic processing services that allow oil companies to more accurately image subsurface features in petroleum reservoirs. The company's technologies are applied in traditional 2D and 3D surveys along with rapidly growing areas like 4D reservoir monitoring and full-wave, multicomponent data acquisition. I/O has offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, Russia and the Middle East. Additional information is available at www.i-o.com.

About AZIM

AZIM is a proprietary technique that accounts for differences in the velocities of acoustic waves in the subsurface as a function of compass direction, or azimuth. For years, geophysicists have assumed that the Earth is homogeneous and that acoustic waves propagate uniformly, regardless of azimuth. More and more, this assumption is being challenged. Almost every hydrocarbon basin in the world has been deposited with a certain orientation. The closest analog might be the grain in wood. Waves traveling with the grain move faster than waves traveling against the grain. This feature is called anisotropy. If anisotropy isn't properly accounted for, the resulting subsurface image will be less precise. AZIM takes these anisotropies into account and allows geoscientists to more accurately map subsurface structures, identify faulting patterns, and optimize drilling locations.

About VectorSeis Ocean

VectorSeis Ocean is a redeployable seabed acquisition system that integrates several proprietary I/O technologies including VectorSeis sensors, a buoyed recorder, and a patented noise-reducing cable system. The VectorSeis digital, full-wave sensor was honored by Hart's E&P in 2003 with a Special Meritorious Award for Engineering Innovation, making I/O a back-to-back winner as an engineering innovator. VectorSeis is uniquely suited to the seabed since it supports full-wave data acquisition without the costly gimbals required by competing ocean bottom systems.

I/O's buoyed recording technology allows seismic data to be captured at the ocean's surface, increasing system availability and reducing the costs of data retrieval compared to systems that require remote operated vehicles (ROVs) to access data recorders located on the ocean bottom. The noise-reducing cable improves the quality of the acquired seismic data, enhancing image quality for the oil companies.

About Hart's Awards for Engineering Innovation in E&P

The Hart's award program honors engineering excellence and achievement in every segment of the global oil and gas industry. It recognizes new products and technologies that offer innovation in concept, design, and application. Winners represent techniques and technologies that are most likely to solve costly problems and improve exploration, drilling, and production efficiency and profitability. Contest judges, including engineers and engineering managers from operating and consulting companies worldwide, choose the winners. More information can be found at the Hart's E&P magazine Web site: www.eandpnet.com.