ION Expands ArcticSPAN Regional Seismic Program


6,500 Kilometers of Basin-scale Data Acquired Offshore Northeast Greenland

HOUSTON, Oct. 14 - ION Geophysical Corporation (NYSE: IO) today announced that it has acquired 6,500 km of regional seismic data for sponsoring E&P clients in the Danmarkshavn basin offshore Northeast Greenland, adding to the 5,300 km of data the company acquired there last season. The Danmarkshavn basin is one of the least explored, most prospective basins in the Arctic region, an area the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates could contain nearly 25% of the world's undiscovered oil and gas resources.

ION once again deployed its purpose-designed marine streamer technology to acquire data in the presence of ice. Together, ION's Intelligent Acquisition( )[IA](TM) toolkit and Arctic program management expertise enabled the company to acquire data further north and in the presence of heavier ice than had been previously possible, at the same time mitigating HSE risk and reducing cycle time. As a result, ION is now confident that it has expanded the Arctic operational season to six months, dramatically longer than the industry's traditional Arctic acquisition season of one to two months.

Joe Gagliardi, ION's Arctic Solutions and Technology Director, commented, "This extension to our Greenland regional program was designed to provide a better understanding of high potential petroleum systems including the North Danmarkshavn Salt Basin, the Northeast Greenland Volcanic Province, and the Thetis Basin. The success of the 2010 expansion serves as further confirmation of the viability and value of our proprietary in-ice [IA] Arctic solution."

ION's ArcticSPAN(TM) program now offers regional exploration teams more than 40,000 km of deeply imaged seismic data in the Arctic region covering the Beaufort-MacKenzie, Banks Island, Chukchi, East Greenland Rift, and Danmarkshavn basins. Together, this data provides E&P companies with an understanding of the relationships among micro basins in the area, which they can use to more effectively assess the Arctic's hydrocarbon potential, identify new opportunities, and mitigate exploration risk.

To learn more about ION's ArcticSPAN program, visit www.iongeo.com/ArcticSPAN.

To learn more about ION's Intelligent Acquisition technology, visit www.iongeo.com/ia101.

About ION
ION Geophysical Corporation is a leading provider of geophysical technology, services, and solutions for the global oil & gas industry. ION's offerings allow E&P operators to obtain higher resolution images of the subsurface to reduce the risk of exploration and reservoir development, and enable seismic contractors to acquire geophysical data more efficiently. Additional information about ION is available at www.iongeo.com.

Contacts ION (Investor relations)
Chief Financial Officer
Brian Hanson, +1 281.879.367

ION (Media relations)
Director - Corporate Marketing
Karen Abercrombie, +1 713.366.7281
karen.abercrombie@iongeo.com

SOURCE ION Geophysical Corporation

Web Site: www.iongeo.com

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