Universal Compression Appoints New Board Member

February 5, 2003

HOUSTON, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Universal Compression Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UCO) announced today the appointment of Janet F. Clark to its Board of Directors. Ms. Clark is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Nuevo Energy Company. Prior to joining Nuevo, Ms. Clark served as a senior executive of Santa Fe Energy for four years and was with the investment banking firm, The First Boston Corporation, for eight years.

"We are pleased that Janet Clark has joined our Board due to her valuable experience in the energy industry, corporate finance and investment banking," said Stephen A. Snider, Universal's President and Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Clark assumed her post in late January 2003 and her term will expire at the 2004 annual meeting of Universal's stockholders.

Universal Compression, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a leading natural gas compression services company, providing a full range of contract compression, sales, operations, maintenance and fabrication services to the domestic and international natural gas industry.

Statements about Universal's outlook and all other statements in this release other than historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of uncertainties and factors, many of which are outside Universal's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. While Universal believes that the assumptions concerning future events are reasonable, it cautions that there are inherent difficulties in predicting certain important factors that could impact the future performance or results of its business. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are the demand for Universal's products and services, integration of acquisitions and worldwide economic and political conditions. These and other risk factors are discussed in Universal's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available to the public. Universal expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE Universal Compression Holdings, Inc.