Two Year Contract Extension with Shell Brunei

RNS Number : 8037V

Plexus Holdings Plc

02 February 2017

 

Plexus Holdings PLC / Index: AIM / Epic: POS / Sector: Oil Equipment & Services

2 February 2017

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

Additional Two Year Contract Extension with Shell Brunei

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 its existing contract to supply wellhead and mudline equipment to Brunei Shell Petroleum Sdn Bhd ('BSP') has been extended by an additional two years.  The extension covers the supply of both Plexus' High Pressure/High Temperature ('HPHT') and standard pressured Wellhead and Mudline systems and services, which are proven to be superior in terms of performance, reliability and safety.

Today's contract is the fourth Plexus has signed with BSP and is an extension of the current four-year framework agreement between both parties, which commenced in late 2012 (see RNS dated 1 October 2012).  Under this framework agreement, in April 2015 the Company received purchase orders from BSP to supply both HPHT and standard pressured wellhead systems and services for three exploration wells in Brunei.  Plexus has a long-standing relationship with BSP, having first supplied its wellhead equipment in 2006, and importantly remains committed to local business development where it is hoped that Plexus can continue to recruit and train further local employees.

Plexus CEO Ben van Bilderbeek said, "The extension of our framework agreement with BSP validates our confidence in our ability to maintain relationships with long term customers, and be ready to secure orders when there is business to be won.  This belief is based on the successful application of our best in class wellheads on over 400 exploration wells worldwide in both HPHT and standard pressure environments by a roster of blue-chip operators including Shell, Centrica, Statoil, and Total. 

"In addition to offering operators wellhead equipment that meets the toughest industry standards, and in particular for HPHT application, the Company has an inventory of wellhead sets in stock which enables us to fulfil orders at short notice. However, for our wellheads to be fully utilised we need to see a pick-up in exploration activity from current historic low levels. Encouragingly, with production set to fall following the recent OPEC meeting agreeing to cuts, demand for hydrocarbons predicted to continue to grow, and mature fields in decline, we believe the seeds are in place for the next cyclical upturn to take root.  Thanks to a debt free balance sheet, and despite our recent trading update, Plexus is well placed for when sentiment recovers.  While we see the remainder of this financial year as challenging, we believe that 2017/18 financial year will be a turning point both for Plexus and the wider exploration industry and I look forward to providing updates on our progress."

**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]
Isabel de Salis	St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: [phone]

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.

 

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