Plexus Holdings PLC / Index: AIM / Epic: POS / Sector: Oil equipment & services
7 October 2013
Plexus Holdings PLC ('Plexus' or 'the Company')
Additional HPHT Order from Centrica Energi Norway
Plexus Holdings PLC, the AIM quoted oil and gas engineering services business and owner of the proprietary POS-GRIP® friction-grip method of wellhead engineering, known for its safety, time and cost saving capabilities, is pleased to announce it has been awarded a contract for the supply of surface exploration wellhead equipment services, worth approximately £750,000 from Centrica Energi Norway, ('Centrica'), a leading oil and gas company. Under the terms of the contract, Plexus will supply its POS-GRIP® 18-3/4" Surface Wellhead System for an appraisal well in the Norwegian Continental Shelf. This follows on from an initial exploration well in 2011. Revenues are expected to commence October 2013.
Plexus is supplying its POS-GRIP 18-3/4" Surface Wellhead System for a low pressure (5000 psi) exploration well where 'through the BOP' capability & casing space out adjustability is required. Although the wellhead system is suitable for High Pressure High Temperature ('HPHT') applications, it is also ideally suited to the rig's 18-3/4" Blow Out Preventer (BOP) and the casing specification requirements. This new order is the Company's second project with Centrica, which follows on from the success of previous work supporting Centrica UK. The current agreement is due to expire in February 2014, at which point Centrica has the option to elect for an extension and it is anticipated that at least one follow on well will be awarded.
Plexus' CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek said, "Centrica used Plexus' wellhead equipment to drill their first well offshore Norway which was followed by a further seven wells on the Maersk Guardian jack-up rig - all drilled using Plexus POS-GRIP equipment. This included leading operators Centrica, Det Norske, Faroe Petroleum, Lundin & Lotos. It is therefore pleasing to secure an additional order with Centrica and demonstrates how Plexus continues to win repeat business from existing customers.
"This latest order is for a low pressure well and also highlights how our equipment, which has proved itself in terms of safety, reliability and performance in over 300 wells worldwide, a large number in HPHT operating environments, is also suited to less extreme drilling conditions. As the industry increasingly demands best in class equipment for all drilling activity, not only is Plexus well-placed to continue to win new business for our surface exploration wellhead rental business but it also bodes well for our on-going development work to extend our POS-GRIP product range such as our under development HGSS™ Subsea wellhead."
**ENDS**
For further information please visit www.posgrip.com or contact:
Ben van Bilderbeek |
Plexus Holdings PLC |
Tel: 020 7795 6890 |
Graham Stevens |
Plexus Holdings PLC |
Tel: 020 7795 6890 |
Jon Fitzpatrick |
Cenkos Securities PLC |
Tel: 020 7397 8900 |
Ken Fleming |
Cenkos Securities PLC |
Tel: 0131 220 6939 |
Felicity Edwards |
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd |
Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
Frank Buhagiar |
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd |
Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
Notes to editors:
Plexus Holdings PLC, which began trading on AIM in December 2005, is an oil and gas engineering and services business, which supplies wellhead and mudline suspension equipment for exploration and production applications. Based in Aberdeen, with offices in London, Cairo, Kuala Lumpur and a presence in Houston, Texas, it has developed and patented a friction-grip method of engineering for oil and gas field wellheads and connectors, POS-GRIP®, which involves deforming one tubular member against another to effect gripping and sealing.
The Company plans to accelerate the roll out of POS-GRIP wellhead equipment as a superior alternative to current technology and for it to become the future industry standard for wellhead design. In particular, the technology has advantages in High Pressure/High Temperature (HP/HT) and Extreme HP/HT (X-HP/HT) oil and gas environments, for which there is growing global demand and where Plexus is being increasingly recognised as the supplier of choice. Importantly, the Company is focussed on extending its proprietary technology into an increasing number of subsea applications. In line with this, in March 2011 the Company launched an initiative to develop a new subsea wellhead design, HGSS™, utilising its friction-grip technology in collaboration with key oil and gas operators and service companies. Royal Dutch Shell, Wintershall, Maersk, Tullow Oil, ENI, Oil States Industries Inc., TOTAL and the UK entity of the world's largest offshore drilling company have joined the initiative to date. The HGSS subsea wellhead design will include a combination of key features never before seen in a subsea wellhead which include being rated to 15,000 psi, 4,000,000 pounds of 'instant' casing lockdown capacity, annulus pressure monitoring and access for 'bleed off' capability to address sustained casing pressure ('SCP') issues which are recognised by the API as a serious industry problem, and rigid metal annular seal technology qualified to match the performance of premium casing. The design process has now been completed, and prototype testing is due for completion mid 2014.
To date, POS-GRIP wellhead systems have been used or selected to be used in over 250 oil and gas wells by international companies including Apache Energy Australia, BHP Billiton, BG International, Bowleven plc, BP, Brunei Shell Petroleum, Cairn Energy, Centrica, ConocoPhillips, Dana Petroleum, Dubai Petroleum, GDF SUEZ, Global Santa Fe, Maersk, Niko Resources, Petro-Canada Trinidad & Tobago, Red Sea Petroleum Operating Company, Repsol, RWE, Senergy Limited, Shell Egypt, StatoilHydro, Silverstone Energy, Talisman Energy, Tullow Oil, and Wintershall.
