For Immediate Release s489

F or Immediate Release

With Art: image of ball and seat assembly for subsurface oil pump priming valve

News About: Ball & Seat Specialties Company 3717 W. 16th Street Odessa, TX 79760 Contact: Ron Lee, 800-592-4595

From: Gorman Communications, LLC Contact: Lynn Gorman (203) 266-5831

Ball & Seat Specialties Company to Exhibit Priming Valve Ball and Seat Assemblies at Permian Basin International Oil Show, October 19 – 21, 2004

Booth #D37

(Odessa, TX – July 2004) Among other items, Ball & Seat Specialties Company will display its CERBEC® ceramic balls used in ball and seat assemblies at the Permian Basin

International Oil Show, October 19 – 21, 2004 in Odessa, Texas. The company will be located in booth #D37.

Ball and seat assemblies, as the priming valves for subsurface oil pumps, are vital to maximizing oil well production. More and more oil companies are using silicon nitride

(ceramic) balls, such as CERBEC, rather than metal balls, because of CERBEC’s inherent corrosion- and wear-resistant properties.

Ball & Seat Specialties Company, an API authorized manufacturer in Odessa, is the exclusive distributor for CERBEC balls, manufactured by Saint-Gobain Ceramics

(East Granby, CT) to the oil pump market. The company offers CERBEC as its premium product for the most severe oil well environments. According to Ron Lee, Vice

President / Materials Manager of Ball & Seat Specialties, “CERBEC ceramic balls are more expensive than metal balls, however they last significantly longer than all metal assemblies in highly corrosive situations.”

In addition to corrosion resistance, other properties of CERBEC balls that are beneficial to oil well applications include lower thermal expansion, higher hardness, higher stiffness, lighter weight, and higher electrical resistance. This combination of characteristics increase performance of subsurface pumps and decreases total operating costs for maintaining oil wells.

For more information, visit the Permian Basin International Oil Show, booth

#D37, or contact Ball & Seat Specialties Company 800-592-4595.