Plexus Holdings PLC / Index: AIM / Epic: POS / Sector: Oil equipment & services
29 April 2014
Plexus Holdings PLC ('Plexus' or 'the Company')
£0.9m Well Order Signed With Centrica Energy 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, announces that it has secured a new well order to supply its POS-GRIP surface exploration wellhead equipment and services under an existing contract with leading oil and gas company Centrica Energy Norway ('Centrica'). The value of the order is estimated at approximately £900,000 with revenues expected to commence in April 2014.
Plexus is supplying its POS-GRIP 18-3/4" Surface Wellhead System for a low pressure (5,000 psi) exploration well and mudline suspension system. The new well order, for oil exploration activities offshore Norway, is the Company's third project with Centrica under its existing contract as announced on 7 October 2013. This contract was recently extended to 28 February 2015, and today's well order is the first under the extension.
Plexus CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek said, "We are delighted to have secured another new wellhead order in the Norwegian North Sea with Centrica with whom we have a solid working relationship. The latest win further highlights the support that our POS-GRIP technology has with leading oil and gas majors for its safety, time and cost saving capabilities as the wider industry increasingly demands best in class equipment for all drilling activities.
"As we continue to maintain a dominant market presence in the North Sea with contracts in place such as ours with Centrica, recent recommendations made in Sir Ian Wood's 'UKCS Maximising Recovery Review' in February of this year in relation to the UKCS come as welcome news. The report emphasised the importance of making more of the UK's HP/HT resource potential by deploying the best and most cost effective technology and leveraging the capabilities of the UK's own oil and gas supply chain. It was even more welcome to see incentives such as the proposed HP/HT allowance included in the recent UK Budget which means that Plexus will be well placed to take advantage of any increase in activity in the UKCS as a result of these Government initiatives.
"In addition, we are also committed to extending our global footprint. With new initiatives underway such as establishing a sales and service hub in Singapore to support our expansion into Asian markets, we believe we are well placed to deliver on our objectives and continue to win business for the rental of our POS-GRIP wellhead technology from both existing and new customers in the North Sea and further afield."
**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 |
Derrick Lee |
Cenkos Securities PLC |
Tel: 0131 220 9100 |
Alan Stewart |
Cenkos Securities PLC |
Tel: 0131 220 9774 |
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 300 oil and gas wells by international companies including AGR, 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.
