Plexus Holdings PLC / Index: AIM / Epic: POS / Sector: Oil equipment & services
17 April 2015
Plexus Holdings PLC ('Plexus' or 'the Company')
Plexus Expands into South America - US$0.8m POS-GRIP Rental Contract Win from New Customer Cardon IV in Venezuela
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, has secured its first contract with Cardon IV, a gas licence granted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mines of Venezuela to eni Venezuela B.V and Repsol Venezuela Gas, S.A., for the supply of mudline suspension equipment services for a development well offshore Venezuela. The value of the order, which sees Plexus increase its geographic reach into the South American market, is estimated at US$0.8 million with revenues being generated from April 2015 onwards.
Under the terms of the contract, Plexus will supply its Tersus™ TRT mudline suspension system for a well on the Perla gas field offshore Venezuela. Plexus' system was selected due to the fast response delivery time offered by Plexus under a new manufacturing initiative, whereby raw material is held to allow immediate manufacture.
The contract is initially for one well with an option for this to be extended for use on a second. This initial order also opens up production development opportunities in the future.
Plexus' CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek said, "Venezuela is one of the biggest producers of oil and gas both regionally and globally, and we are therefore delighted to have secured our first contract to supply our best in class wellhead equipment in this important hydrocarbon producing country. In addition we are delighted to announce our first contract win in South America which now sees our geographic reach span five continents including Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa. Winning orders in new territories is a key part of our growth strategy. We have already established Plexus as the go-to provider of wellhead equipment for high pressure/high temperature wells particularly in the North Sea market. Having proven the superiority of our equipment in what is one of the most challenging operating conditions in the world, we are focused on replicating this success, as this latest contract demonstrates, at the global level, as we look to build Plexus into a leading global oil and services company."
**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 |
Nick Tulloch |
Cenkos Securities PLC |
Tel: 0131 220 9772 |
Felicity Winkles |
St Brides Partners Ltd |
Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
Frank Buhagiar |
St Brides Partners Ltd |
Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
Notes to Editors:
Plexus Holdings PLC
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 together with associated equipment and services for exploration and production applications. Based in Aberdeen, with offices in London, Cairo, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore 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.
To date, POS-GRIP wellhead systems have been used or selected to be used in over 350 oil and gas wells by international companies including ADTI, 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 China, Shell Egypt, Statoil, Silverstone Energy, Talisman Energy, Tullow Oil, and Wintershall.
Importantly, the Company is focussed on extending its proprietary POS-GRIP technology into an increasing number of subsea applications. In line with this, in March 2011 the Company launched a Joint Industry Project ('JIP') 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. BG, Royal Dutch Shell, Wintershall, Maersk, TOTAL, Tullow Oil, eni, Senergy, ADTI and Oil States Industries Inc. The JIP is nearing completion with final qualification testing of all key features of the product under way, and the resultant 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, and importantly rigid metal annular seal technology qualified to match the performance of premium connectors. The building of a single string HGSS prototype wellhead system commenced in February, and is expected to be completed in readiness for display at the SPE Offshore Europe Exhibition and Conference in Aberdeen ('OE2015') in September.
Plexus is an innovative technology company always looking for opportunities to apply its proprietary POS-GRIP friction grip method of engineering to new products both within and outside the oil and gas industry. For example Plexus have recently completed a JIP in conjunction with Maersk to develop a downhole HPHT Tieback connector which for the first time allows the reconnection of production casing to HPHT exploration and production wells. In addition the Company has developed and qualified a new product called "POS-SET Connector™ which is designed to re-establish a connection onto rough conductor casing previously cut above the seabed to facilitate tieback or abandonment operations. The market for permanent plugging and abandonment of wells is increasing in the North Sea and beyond, and could be an important new revenue stream for the company.
