GBP1M New Customer Contract Win with Lotos

RNS Number : 4335O

Plexus Holdings Plc

11 October 2012

 



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

11 October 2012

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

£1 million New Customer Contract Win with Lotos Exploration & Production Norge AS for Supply of POS-GRIP Wellhead Equipment

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, announces that it has secured a £1 million contract to supply its POS-GRIP technology wellhead equipment to new customer Lotos Exploration & Production Norge AS  ('Lotos'), a Norwegian subsidiary of the Polish oil and gas major Grupa Lotos.  The contract is for a two year period and can be extended for an additional year. Revenues are due to commence November 2012.

The exploration drilling programme will utilise Plexus' high pressure high temperature ('HPHT') 18-3/4" wellhead equipment and casing support equipment for the Skagen well. Lotos is a new customer for Plexus and further strengthens the Company's position in the region.  The contract win follows on from a successful multi-well campaign with other Norwegian oil and gas companies signed on 29 March 2012. 

Plexus CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek said, "The Norwegian oil and gas sector is a highly attractive region to be operating in and one in which Plexus continues to build its presence as a leading HPHT wellhead equipment specialist.  With developments such as Norway's 22nd oil and gas licensing round on the horizon, where up to 86 licencing blocks will be awarded in areas such as the highly prospective Artic region, which according to the US Geological Survey holds approximately 13% of the world's undiscovered conventional oil and 30% of undiscovered natural gas, we see the region as a significant future growth opportunity for Plexus.  With this in mind, we are delighted to announce Lotos as a new customer and we view today's contract as further testament to the operational benefits of our POS-GRIP HPHT wellhead equipment known for its safety and cost saving capabilities."

**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 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 150 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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