SHELDON R. ERIKSON, OF HOUSTON, TO RECEIVE DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

SHELDON R. ERIKSON, OF HOUSTON, TO RECEIVE DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD At kickoff to OTC, Sunday, May 4, 1997

Contact: Anne Buckley [email protected] 212-705-8157

Sheldon R. Erikson, chairman of the Board of Cooper Cameron Corporation (NYSE) since May 1996, and president and chief executive officer since January 1995, will be accepting the Titanium Award for outstanding citizenship within the petroleum industry. This presentation will take place during the ASME Cajun Crawfish Boil, Sunday, May 4, from 1 to 5 p.m.

"Sheldon R. Erikson is an excellent corporate leader. He's ambitious and intelligent. And inspires others to seek excellence in all they do," said Diane Ashen, head of the Crawfish Boil Awards Committee and president of Ashen & Associates, Inc.

Cooper Cameron is a leading international manufacturer of oil and gas pressure control equipment, including valves, wellheads, chokes and assembled systems for oil and gas drilling. It also manufactures gas turbines, centrifugal compressors, turbochargers and air compressors.

Erikson, who holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, serves on the Board of Directors of the Greater Houston Partnership, Triton Energy Corporation, the Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association and the National Ocean Industries Association.

In addition to these activities, Erikson was chairman of the Board (1988-1995) and president and chief executive officer (1987-1995) of the Western Company of North America (NYSE). Prior to 1987, he was president of Joy Petroleum Equipment Group of the Joy Manufacturing Company. And before joining Joy, he served as president of the Petroleum Services Group and the Oilfield Services Group of NL Industries, Inc., as well as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Digicon Inc.

This kickoff to the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is sponsored by the Petroleum Division of ASME International (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and the University of Houston, in cooperation with the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston.

The 125,000-member ASME is a worldwide engineering society focused on technical, educational and research issues. It conducts one of the world's largest technical publishing operations, holds some 30 technical conferences and 200 professional development courses each year, and sets many industrial and manufacturing standards.