New Customer SCEPCO POS-GRIP Rental Contract Win

 

Plexus Holdings PLC / Index: AIM / Epic: POS / Sector: Oil equipment & services

21 May 2014

Plexus Holdings PLC ('Plexus' or 'the Company')

New Customer SCEPCO POS-GRIP Rental Contract Win

 

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 it has received a Letter of Award for its first contract with Shell China Exploration and Production Company Limited (SCEPCO), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc ('Shell'). The contract, which is subject to finalisation of terms, is for the supply of 15,000psi high pressure high temperature ('HP/HT') POS-GRIP wellhead technology with mudline casing support and associated services, initially for one well exploring for gas offshore Hainan Island, China. Revenues from this contract are expected to commence during the next financial year.

 

This is Plexus' first contract with SCEPCO which was secured through Plexus' Singapore subsidiary, and also the first to be awarded in the region which marks a significant step for the Company as it continues to expand its global reach. In the past Plexus has secured contracts with other subsidiaries of Shell, and therefore the addition of SCEPCO to its client base, particularly in Asia, is welcomed.

 

Plexus' CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek said, "This is a breakthrough contract for Plexus Singapore, one which will see us supply our proven wellhead equipment for the first time to an established international operator in this important new country.  Though we haven't previously worked with SCEPCO, we have secured and fulfilled contracts with other Shell subsidiaries in other parts of the world.  This contract is particularly exciting to us as it supports our strategic decision to establish and support an Asian sales and service hub following the recent establishment of Plexus subsidiaries in Malaysia and Singapore.  This initiative is in line with our strategy to expand beyond the North Sea where we have a dominant market share supplying HP/HT equipment, as we continue to pursue our goal of establishing Plexus as a leading global supplier to the oil and gas industry." 

 

**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.