EXHIBIT 99.3

ENCORE ACQUISITION CHAIRMAN AND CEO I. JON BRUMLEY ELECTED
TO HANOVER COMPRESSOR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

HOUSTON, February 26, 2002 - Hanover Compressor (NYSE: HC), the leading provider
of outsourced natural gas compression services, today announced the election of
I. Jon Brumley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Encore Acquisition
Company (NYSE: EAC) of Fort Worth to Hanover's board of directors.

"Jon Brumley is a seasoned energy industry executive with an outstanding record
of developing several oil and gas production companies into industry leading
companies," said Michael O'Connor, chairman of Hanover. "His disciplined
approach, recognized managerial and financial acumen, and energy industry
expertise will provide a valuable perspective to our company."

Mr. Brumley began his career with Southland Royalty Company as a risk analyst in
1967 and became its President in 1974. In 1980, while Mr. Brumley was President
and Chief Executive Officer, Southland carved out two groups of producing
properties and formed two royalty trusts called the San Juan Basin Royalty Trust
and the Permian Basin Royalty Trust. These royalty trusts still trade on the
NYSE under the symbols SJT and PBT, respectively. In 1985, Southland was
acquired by Burlington Northern Railroad.

In 1986, Mr. Brumley co-founded Cross Timbers Oil Company to focus on the
acquisition and development of long-lived oil and natural gas properties. In
1992, while Mr. Brumley was Chairman of the Board, Cross Timbers created the
Cross Timbers Royalty Trust and, in 1993, Cross Timbers Oil Company had its
initial public offering. Cross Timbers Oil Company recently changed its name to
XTO.

In August 1996, Mr. Brumley accepted the position of Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of MESA, and in August 1997 MESA was merged with Parker
Parsley to become Pioneer Natural Resources Company.

In 1998, Mr. Brumley and his son, Jon S. Brumley, formed Encore Acquisition
Company.

Mr. Brumley holds a Bachelors degree in business administration from the
University of Texas and a MBA from the University of Pennsylvania.

About Encore Acquisition Company

Organized in 1998, Encore (www.encoreacq.com) is a growing independent energy
company engaged in the acquisition, development and exploitation of North
American oil and natural gas reserves. Encore's oil and natural gas reserves are
located in the Williston Basin of Montana and North Dakota, the Permian Basin of
Texas and New Mexico, the Anadarko Basin of Oklahoma



and the Powder River Basin of Montana. The company completed an IPO in March
2001 and today has an enterprise value of approximately $525 million.

About Hanover Compressor

Hanover Compressor Company (www.hanover-co.com) is the global market leader in
full service natural gas compression and a leading provider of service,
financing, fabrication and equipment for contract natural gas handling
applications. Hanover provides this equipment on a rental, contract compression,
maintenance and acquisition leaseback basis to natural gas production,
processing and transportation companies that are increasingly seeking
outsourcing solutions. Founded in 1990 and a public company since 1997, its
customers include premier independent and major producers and distributors
throughout the Western Hemisphere.

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Certain matters discussed in this press release are "forward-looking statements"
intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability established by the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements can generally be identified as such because of the context of the
statement and will include words such as "believes," "anticipates," "expects,"
"estimates," or words of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe
Hanover's future plans, objectives or goals are also forward-looking statements.
Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties,
which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated as
of the date of this press release. The risks and uncertainties include: the loss
of market share through competition, the introduction of competing technologies
by other companies; a prolonged, substantial reduction in oil and gas prices
which would cause a decline in the demand for Hanover's compression and oil and
gas production equipment; new governmental safety, health and environmental
regulations which could require Hanover to make significant capital
expenditures; inability to successfully integrate acquired businesses; and
changes in economic or political conditions in the countries in which Hanover
operates. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are only
made as of the date of this press release, and Hanover undertakes no obligation
to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events
or circumstances. A discussion of these factors is included in the Company's
periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.