National Oilwell Acquisition of Hydralift Clears U.S. Antitrust Review

With this approval, National Oilwell has determined that all of the conditions of the Tender Offer have been satisfied or waived. Accordingly, National Oilwell intends to acquire the 29,002,790 Hydralift shares that have been received pursuant to the terms of the offer. The settlement for the shares accepted will be on or about Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2002.

National Oilwell is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and sale of comprehensive systems and components used in oil and gas drilling and production, as well as in providing supply chain integration services to the upstream oil and gas industry.

Hydralift manufactures and sells equipment to both the international oil and gas and maritime industries. The company develops and designs specialized solutions based on its standard range of products which includes complete drilling equipment packages, cranes, pipe-handling systems, heave compensation systems, riser tensioning systems, mooring systems, handling equipment for cable-laying vessels and well-intervention systems.

Statements made in this press release that are forward-looking in nature are intended to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and may involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results. Readers are referred to documents filed by National Oilwell with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K, which identify significant risk factors which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements.