Plexus Holdings PLC / Index: AIM / Epic: POS / Sector: Oil Equipment & Services
2 March 2017
Plexus Holdings PLC ('Plexus' or 'the Company')
Awarded Contract by New Customer Nexen
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, is pleased to announce it has been awarded a well order from new customer Nexen Petroleum U.K. Limited ('Nexen') for the Glengorm exploration well in the Central North Sea. Nexen is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, China's largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas. Under the terms of the contract, Plexus will supply Nexen with its POS-GRIP wellhead and Tersus mudline equipment, which is proven to be the safest, most cost effective and technically superior solution for the oil and gas industry.
Based on estimated timings this contract is expected to fall into Plexus' next financial year beginning 1st July 2017. Nexen has selected Plexus' High Pressure/High Temperature ('HPHT') 18-3/4" 15M MK2 Single Stack Wellhead System and combined Tersus-TRT mudline support and Tersus-CS casing support systems.
Plexus CEO Ben van Bilderbeek said, "I am very pleased to be able to add Nexen to our blue-chip roster of customers, which includes majors such as Centrica, BG, ConocoPhillips, ENI, Royal Dutch Shell, and Total. It is particularly pleasing to have won today's order from this high calibre operator which is one of the largest producers in the UK North Sea and encouragingly continues to actively explore in the region.
"Before the oil price-induced downturn set in, the qualities of our best in class equipment in terms of performance, reliability, safety and time savings, had established Plexus as the dominant supplier of wellheads for jack-up exploration wells in the North Sea. As we stated in our recent trading update we have always been confident that once exploration activity returns to the sector, our unique POS-GRIP wellhead technology, which has been successfully used on over 400 wells worldwide, would be well-placed for the recovery. Whilst this financial year continues to remain challenging, this contract for a Central North Sea well, together with the follow-on order we recently announced for an exploration well offshore Oman, and the increase in enquiries we are beginning to see from operators, provides us with some encouragement for the next financial year and beyond."
**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 |
Nick Tulloch |
Cenkos Securities PLC |
Tel: 0131 220 9772 |
Derrick Lee |
Cenkos Securities PLC |
Tel: 0131 220 9100 |
Frank Buhagiar |
St Brides Partners Ltd |
Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
Isabel de Salis |
St Brides Partners Ltd |
Tel: 020 7236 1177 |
NOTES:
Plexus Holdings PLC is an AIM traded 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 a presence in London, Cairo, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and 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.
To date, POS-GRIP wellhead systems have been used in over 400 oil and gas wells by numerous international companies. In particular, the technology has advantages in High Pressure/High Temperature (HPHT) and Extreme HPHT (X-HPHT) oil and gas environments, for which there is growing global demand and where Plexus is being increasingly recognised as the supplier of choice. Plexus has recently successfully completed the supply of an X-HPHT exploration wellhead to Total for the Solaris well which is believed to be the deepest and highest pressure well ever drilled in the North Sea.
Plexus is also extending its technology into an increasing number of other applications:
· In September 2015 it launched a prototype of the 'Python™ Subsea Wellhead' developed as part of a Joint Industry Project in collaboration with BG, Royal Dutch Shell, Wintershall, Maersk, TOTAL, Tullow Oil, ENI, LR Senergy, Transocean and Oil States Industries Inc.
· It recently also 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.
· It 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.
Having proven its POS-GRIP technology in the niche jack-up exploration market Plexus is now focused on extending its applications into the much larger multi-billion dollar land and platform production well market as well as actively pursuing a first time use of the new Python subsea wellhead into the important subsea sector. Such strategic initiatives will be pursued both organically and with trading partners and licencees.