HOUSTON & ABU DHABI- April 29, 2008 -The Information Store (iStore) is expanding its global operations by establishing an office in the Middle East. The new office will oversee business development and services in the Middle East and Africa market. Ezat Zarasvand has been named General Manager, overseeing the region where he will support new and existing clients such as RasGas, Reliance and Shell Nigeria.

“I am excited about this mission-critical expansion to the Middle East/Africa region. This strategic commitment will enable us to better serve our customers and partners and is an acknowledgement of the increased activity and significance of this region to our customers and the energy industry as a whole,” said Barry Irani, president and CEO of iStore. “I am especially excited about Ezat joining our team to lead our Middle East and Africa initiative. Ezat brings with him rich industry experience and a host of special relationships in the region.”

Zarasvand brings more than 30 years of global technology and management experience in the petroleum industry to iStore. Prior to joining the iStore team, Zarasvand managed sales and delivery of enterprise resource planning systems for Oracle Corporation. During his time at Oracle he worked closely with exploration and production (E&P) companies in the United States, Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East to develop E&P applications and align systems with business processes. He has also held various key positions with companies such as BP Exploration, Foxboro/Invensys, Cap Gemini/Sogeti Corporation, and Cerner Arabia.

“I am delighted to take on this new role as general manager for the Middle East and Africa office for iStore. There are many opportunities for iStore in the exploration and production technology market in the Middle East, Africa and the former Soviet Union,” said Zarasvand. “We want to play a major role in the area to become the supplier of choice for all regional companies. iStore will enable petroleum companies in the Middle East and Africa to make more informed and timely decisions about their petroleum assets, which is becoming more critical as oil prices continue to exceed $100 a barrel.”

The iStore has been assisting oil companies with their information and data access challenges for more than 14 years. The firm's web-based software, PetroTrek^® offers a robust framework for accessing, analyzing, reporting, and distributing mission-critical E&P data from anywhere in the organization. PetroTrek is used by petroleum companies including BP, Chevron, Marathon, PEMEX, and Shell. iStore's clients include oil companies, petroleum service companies, and petroleum joint ventures across the globe.

iStore will be exhibiting at Microsoft's Global Energy Forum, April 29th in Abu Dhabi.

About The Information Store
The Information Store (iStore) helps petroleum companies access exploration and production (E&P) data wherever it resides and presents it in a useful form. As a result, customers improve asset performance, reduce cycle time and maximize return on investment. Most importantly, iStore's suite of software solutions puts the information E&P asset management teams need to make good decisions at their fingertips. Founded in 1994, the privately held company's headquarters are in Houston. For more information, visit www.istore.com.

Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. PetroTrek is a registered trademark of The Information Store in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Editor's Note: Photo of Ezat Zarasvand available