Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) 8-K Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Sale of Flowback Operations

Exhibit 99.1

Contact: Mike Drickamer
Director, Investor Relations
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.
(281) 765-7170

Patterson-UTI Energy Announces Sale of Flowback Operations

HOUSTON – April 23, 2012 – PATTERSON-UTI ENERGY, INC. (NASDAQ: PTEN)today announced that it sold its flowback operations to TETRA Technologies, Inc. in a cash transaction. The sale price was $42.5 million and a subsidiary of Patterson-UTI retained the associated financial working capital of approximately $5 million. Patterson-UTI expects to report a pretax gain of approximately $20 million in the second quarter of 2012 as a result of this transaction. Simmons & Company International served as financial advisor to Patterson-UTI in this transaction.

About Patterson-UTI

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. subsidiaries provide onshore contract drilling and pressure pumping services to exploration and production companies in North America. Patterson-UTI Drilling Company LLC has approximately 330 marketable land-based drilling rigs and operates primarily in the oil and natural gas producing regions of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and western Canada. Universal Pressure Pumping, Inc. and Universal Well Services, Inc. provide pressure pumping services primarily in Texas and the Appalachian region.

Statements made in this press release which state the Company’s or management’s intentions, beliefs, expectations or predictions for the future are forward-looking statements. It is important to note that actual results could differ materially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, deterioration in the global economic environment, declines in oil and natural gas prices that could adversely affect demand for the Company’s services, and their associated effect on day rates, rig utilization and planned capital expenditures, excess availability of land drilling rigs, including as a result of the reactivation or construction of new land drilling rigs, adverse industry conditions, difficulty in integrating acquisitions, demand for oil and natural gas, shortages of rig equipment, governmental regulations and ability to retain management and field personnel. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the Company’s SEC filings, which may be obtained by contacting the Company or the SEC. These filings are also available through the Company’s web site athttp://www.patenergy.comor through the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering and Analysis Retrieval System (EDGAR) athttp://www.sec.gov. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement.