GBP 1.5m Extension of Contract with Maersk Oil

RNS Number : 7473X

Plexus Holdings Plc

13 February 2013

 



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

13 February 2013

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

£1.5 million Extension of Contract with Maersk Oil North Sea UK Limited

Plexus Holdings PLC, the AIM quoted oil and gas engineering services business and owner of the proprietary POS-GRIP® method of wellhead engineering, is pleased to announce that Maersk Oil North Sea UK Limited ('Maersk Oil UK') has agreed to exercise two, one year extension options attached to an original contract awarded to Plexus to supply its High Pressure/ High Temperature ('HP/HT') POS-GRIP® wellhead technology, casing support and mudline suspension services for an exploration programme in the North Sea.  The initial contract was announced on 15 December 2009 with an estimated value of £3 million for three wells over a period of three years.  Following the exercise of the two extension options the contract has, subject to finalisation now been increased by a minimum of one well with an estimated value of £1.5 million, and will run to the end of 2014.

Under the original contract, Plexus supplied Maersk Oil UK with its POS-GRIP, HP/HT 18.75 inch single stack wellhead on a rig equipped with an 18-3/4" 15M blow out preventer for use on three wells. The extension of the contract is initially for one exploration well in the UK's central North Sea which will utilise Plexus' HP/HT 18-3/4" 15,000psi Thru' Rotary Surface Wellhead system.  Revenues are anticipated to commence in August 2013. 

Plexus CEO Ben van Bilderbeek said, "This contract extension further strengthens Plexus' market leading position in HP/HT jack-up rig wellhead equipment and service provision in the North Sea.  Plexus has become a leading supplier of HP/HT wellhead equipment in the North Sea, thanks to the proven superiority of our POS-GRIP technology in terms of safety, performance, and cost which is increasingly being recognised by the industry.  As a result we are highly confident that, as we continue to build our presence in other areas of operations such as Asia and Africa, Plexus' POS-GRIP technology will become the equipment of choice on an industry wide and global basis."

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.posgrip.com or contact:

Ben van Bilderbeek	Plexus Holdings PLC	Tel: [phone]
Graham Stevens	Plexus Holdings PLC	Tel: [phone]
Jon Fitzpatrick	Cenkos Securities PLC	Tel: [phone]
Ken Fleming	Cenkos Securities PLC	Tel: [phone]
Felicity Edwards	St Brides Media & Finance Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Frank Buhagiar	St Brides Media & Finance Ltd	Tel: [phone]

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.  Development is expected to be completed by mid 2013 calendar year.

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.

 

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