Malaysian JV Wins First GBP0.9M Well Order

RNS Number : 7111N

Plexus Holdings Plc

02 February 2016

 

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

2 February 2016

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

Malaysian JV Plexus Products (Asia) Sdn Bhd Wins First £0.9M Well Order

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 that it has secured a purchase order with Talisman Malaysia Limited ('Talisman'), which is a part of REPSOL Group (MC: REP), the integrated global energy group, to supply its best in class wellhead system for an exploration well offshore Malaysia.  This contract is in line with Plexus' expansion strategy to increase its global presence as a leading supplier of best in class wellhead equipment in terms of performance, reliability and safety for exploration, production and subsea activities. 

This order with Talisman is the first to be awarded to Plexus' Malaysian Joint Venture ('JV') company, Plexus Products (Asia) Sdn Bhd ('PPA'), in conjunction with our local Malaysian oil and gas partner. PPA is a fully operational Asian business hub, which was set up to increase the supply of Plexus' pioneering POS-GRIP wellhead equipment and services to the important South East Asia and Australia oil and gas exploration and production markets.

Plexus' CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek said, "Securing a first order through our Malaysian JV represents an important milestone for Plexus, as we look to replicate in other parts of the world our historical success in the North Sea where we have proven the unique advantages of our POS-GRIP technology.  Here we have established Plexus as the go-to supplier of HP/HT wellhead equipment among blue chip operators, thanks to the superior operational performance, reliability, safety and significant cost savings it offers, and this is what we are looking to achieve on the global stage in new and emerging growth markets. 

"In recent years we have begun to roll-out our international footprint, and this strategy becomes even more important at a time when the North Sea is suffering from the impact of significantly lower oil prices.  As well as establishing PPA in Malaysia, we have also secured a licensing agreement with Jereh, a major Chinese oil services provider, to manufacture and sell Plexus' wellhead equipment to the Chinese and wider Asian oil and gas markets.  Set against a challenging oil price backdrop, our global expansion initiative has proved timely, although it will inevitably take time to establish. By supplying and servicing markets with different cost and pricing profiles compared to the North Sea, we are aiming to not only grow our share of the sizeable global exploration, production and subsea markets, but also to diversify our revenue and customer base further."

**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]
Nick Tulloch	Cenkos Securities PLC	Tel: [phone]
Derrick Lee	Cenkos Securities PLC	Tel: [phone]
Frank Buhagiar	St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Felicity Winkles	St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: [phone]

NOTES:

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, BP, Brunei Shell Petroleum, Cairn Energy, Centrica, ConocoPhillips, Dana Petroleum, Dubai Petroleum, ENI, GDF SUEZ, Global Santa Fe, Maersk, Niko Resources, Petro-Canada Trinidad & Tobago, Premier Oil Norge, Red Sea Petroleum Operating Company, Repsol, RWE, Senergy Limited, Shell China, Shell Egypt, Statoil, Silverstone Energy, Talisman Energy, Total, 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, the 'Python Subsea Wellhead' 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 Python 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 Python Subsea Wellhead system prototype commenced in February, and was launched at the SPE Offshore Europe Exhibition and Conference in Aberdeen ('OE2015') in September 2015.

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.

 

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