HOUSTON, Texas, September 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Paradigm(TM), the premier
provider of advanced petroleum geoscience and drilling technology to the oil
and gas exploration and production industry, and T H Hill, the drillstring
structural experts, announce their agreement to jointly develop advanced
software for Well Planning and Drilling Engineering. Specifically, the two
companies will provide the industry with tools that support the use of TH
Hill's newly released DS-1(TM) Third Edition Standard for Drill Stem Design
and Operation, a major innovation that revolutionizes drillstring design by
allowing the quantitative comparison of drillstring fatigue for different
well designs.
    The two companies have signed an agreement giving Paradigm the exclusive
right to commercialize software that verifies compliance with the DS-1 Third
Edition Design Groups.
    The initial product verifying DS-1 Design compliance for a well design is
a fully integrated add-on module to Paradigm's Sysdrill(TM) product line. The
Sysdrill product line comprises a tightly integrated suite of Well Planning
and Drilling Engineering applications, designed to enable drilling engineers
to model all phases of wellbore construction, in order to reduce drilling
risk and costs. The addition of DS-1 technology will allow the comparison of
well designs from a drillstring fatigue perspective. Approximately 80% of
drillstring failures are due to fatigue, and this is the first design tool
that effectively addresses this risk.
    In addition to the DS-1 technology, T H Hill will transfer the technology
in its Well Optimizer(TM) software to Paradigm, for incorporation into the
Sysdrill suite, and T H Hill will adopt Sysdrill as its engineering system
offering, to support its Drilling Engineering consulting business.
    Paradigm's Sysdrill products are fully integrated with its
industry-leading geoscience software, and support a wide range of seamless,
multi-disciplinary workflows, including 3D well planning in Pore Pressure
environments and Geosteering. Paradigm's epos(TM) data management and
interoperability integration framework ensures unrivalled access to and
support for a wide variety of third-party data stores, for maximum
productivity and ease of use.
    T H Hill is the recognized industry leader in drillstring design and
quality management. A technology leader since 1980, T H Hill has established
DS-1 as the global standard in drill stem design, inspection and operation.
The new third edition of DS-1 was sponsored by a global consortium of
thirty-six companies and comprises three volumes: Manufacturing, Design &
Operation, and Inspection. In addition to its work with the DS-1 standard, T
H Hill provides engineering and quality management services to the drilling
industry.
    Shawn Altizer, Vice-President Marketing & Business Development at T H
Hill, said, "Our agreement with Paradigm allows us to focus on what we do
best - the development of new technologies and their application to drill
stem structural integrity. Additionally, we feel that Paradigm's position in
the software industry allows us to reach a broader market with the
revolutionary fatigue design methodologies found in DS-1 third edition."
    John Turvill, Sysdrill Product Manager, added, "The agreement with T H
Hill reinforces Paradigm's commitment to provide our customers with
leading-edge technology in all areas. Full integration of DS-1 Design
Compliance verification with the existing Sysdrill applications provides a
powerful tool for optimizing well designs for fatigue, thus reducing risk and
drilling costs. In addition to the unique benefits of the DS-1 technology, T
H Hill has long been recognized as the 'drillstring expert'. Its adoption of
Sysdrill software and our close working relationship will enable all our
customers to benefit from our mutual expertise."
    Paradigm and T H Hill will both be featured in the HP booth (#2045) at
the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Annual Technical Conference in
Houston, Texas, September 26-29.
    About Paradigm
    Paradigm provides information solutions to the leaders of the oil and gas
industry worldwide. The company has a global network of sales, service and
user support, with 22 offices in 19 countries, serving all major oil and gas
producing provinces in the world. Paradigm's advanced set of Software
Solutions and Integrated Services, in the form of Trace-to-Target workflows,
covers every step in the oil and gas E&P process, from Data Processing and
Imaging; through advanced Visualization, Interpretation and Earth Modeling;
to Reservoir Characterization and Petrophysics; up to Well Planning and
Drilling Operations. These solutions are supported by the epos Data
Management and Interoperability integration framework.
    The following are trademarks or registered trademarks of Paradigm
Geotechnology B.V. or any of its affiliates (collectively, "Paradigm"):
Paradigm(TM), Paradigm logo, Sysdrill(TM), and/or other Paradigm products
referenced herein. DS-1(TM) is a trademark of T H Hill Associates Inc.
    Recent press announcements are available on Paradigm's web site:
http://www.paradigmgeo.com.
    Certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking in
nature. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking
terminology such as "`believes," "expects," "may," "will," "could",
"should,'' or "anticipates'' or the negative thereof or comparable
terminology, or by discussions of strategy. The company's business and
operations are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other
factors. Consequently, actual results may materially differ from those
projected by any forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and
other factors that could cause actual results to differ from those projected
include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) political risk and
uncertainty in the global economy and within the energy sector, (2) regional
conflicts in oil producing countries, (3) future capital expenditures by oil
and gas companies, (4) fluctuations and absolute levels of international oil
prices, (5) the need for increased Company investment to support new product
and new service introductions, (6) the company's ability to raise needed
additional capital, (7) rapid technological changes that could make the
company's products less desirable or obsolete, (8) market acceptance of the
Company's products and services, (9) changes in product sales mix, (10)
product transitions by the Company and its competitors, (11) the impact of
competitive products and pricing, (12) currency fluctuations. The company
makes no commitment to revise or update any forward-looking statements in
order to reflect events or circumstances after the date any such statement is
made.

    Paradigm Media Contacts
    Corporate
    Nir Zamir
    Tel: +44-1483-758-000
    aritam@paradigmgeo.com

    North and South America
    Carmen Comis
    Tel: +1-713-393-4833
    ccomis@paradigmgeo.com

    Europe/Africa/Middle East
    Joanna Szymborska
    Tel: +44-1483-758-119
    joannas@paradigmgeo.com

    Asia Pacific
    Mona J Poomy
    Tel: +60-3-2163-8111 (2215)
    monap@paradigmgeo.com

    T H Hill Media Contact
    Shawn Altizer
    Tel: +1-713-934-9215
    shawn.altizer@thhill.com

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