JetStar Energy Services, Inc., Sponsored By SKM Growth Investors, Acquires Two Independent Oilfield Services Companies

Business Wire, June 13, 2005

DALLAS -- New Energy Services Firm to Focus on the Mid-Continent Region Including the Vast Barnett Shale, Estimated to Contain 30-Trillion Cubic Feet of Natural Gas

SKM Growth Investors (SKMGI), a leading private equity firm that invests in privately held, middle-market growth companies in the U.S., has sponsored the acquisition of Jet-Star Co., and Rio Pumping Services, Inc., two independent Texas-based oilfield services companies that provide cementing, fracturing and other pressure-pumping services. In connection with the acquisitions, SKMGI has formed a new entity called JetStar Energy Services, Inc., under which the newly acquired businesses will operate. Management of Jet-Star and Rio remain in place reporting to JetStar Energy Services CEO Jim Collet, who has significant experience managing productive and mid-stream oil and gas assets.

A primary focus for JetStar will be mid-tier oil and gas producers in North Texas and Oklahoma. The company, based on the location of its three facilities, will pursue business with producers operating in the Barnett Shale. The Barnett formation, one of the largest gas fields in North America, is estimated to contain more than 30-trillion cubic feet of natural gas. More than 1,200 wells already exist in the Barnett Shale, with another 400 wells currently being drilled or under consideration. With more than half of shale gas produced in the United States coming from the Barnett, JetStar's growth opportunities in the area are significant.

"Our strategy for the formation of JetStar was to build a substantive pressure-pumping business serving the Mid-continent region. Our objective is to deliver high-quality acidizing, fracturing, cementing and other pressure-pumping services to oil and gas producers who prefer the experience and responsiveness of an independent service provider," said JetStar Energy Services CEO Jim Collet. "Supported by a large equipment fleet and a team of very experienced field personnel deployed strategically throughout North Texas and Oklahoma, we can provide extremely responsive services to an industry that is very concerned with time-to-market factors. Our crews and equipment can typically arrive at the well site within hours, not days or weeks like some of our larger integrated competitors."

Collet added: "We are committed to providing a cost effective, responsive, and highly efficient delivery of pressure-pumping services to sophisticated independent operators that form the core of our customer base."

Rio was founded in 1999 by Jerry Mower and Brad Elenburg, and Jet-Star was established in 1995 by Tim Sicking. Mower and Sicking had 23 and 15 years of experience, respectively, with Halliburton before founding their own pressure-pumping businesses.

The formation of JetStar Energy Services builds upon industry experience at SKMGI, including the recent very successful investment in WG Energy, a Midland, Texas-based exploration and production company which held a portfolio of long-lived oil and gas reserves, as well as acreage in North Texas and the Texas Panhandle.

"The Barnett Shale is one of the fastest-growing gas plays in the continental United States, and SKMGI is committed to supporting JetStar Energy Services with the capital necessary to build, operate and sustain a leading oilfield services business," said SKMGI Managing Director Clark Crosnoe. "We are very excited by the team we have assembled and the abundant opportunities to grow the business, both organically and through selective acquisitions that will broaden our footprint."

About SKMGI

SKMGI is a leading independent private equity firm that invests in growing, entrepreneurially led U.S. companies. SKMGI was formed in 1999 to invest $5 million to $15 million of equity capital to sponsor recapitalizations, buyouts and growth capital investments involving middle-market companies. In February 2005, the firm was spun-off from Saunders Karp & Megrue, a $1.5 billion private equity firm, which merged with Apax Partners. SKMGI is uniquely focused on partnering with successful entrepreneurs committed to building great companies. SKMGI is based in Dallas. For more information on SKMGI, please visit www.skmgi.com.