Det Norske Hires Plexus Wellhead System (Norway)

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,  has signed a new contract for two wells from Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA (‘DetNor’), a leading oil and gas company, to supply its POS-GRIP High Pressure High Temperature (‘HP/HT’) wellhead system for two exploration wells in the Norwegian Continental Shelf worth a total of approximately £2 million.  Revenues are expected to commence in July 2013 and are estimated to extend over a 12-18 month period. 

The contract is for the supply of the Company’s POS-GRIP HP/HT 18-3/4″ 15M Surface Wellhead System and Mudline Casing Support for two wells to be drilled from the Maersk Giant rig, the first of which is due to spud later this calendar year.  The second DetNor well is expected to commence drilling within 16 months.  Currently eight wells are scheduled to be drilled on the Maersk Giant rig, six of which will be using Plexus’ equipment, including the Frode well operated by Talisman Energy Inc which is currently drilling.

DetNor has previously used the Company’s POS-GRIP wellhead equipment during a separate drilling campaign off the Maersk Guardian rig, also in the Norwegian North Sea, in 2012 when it was a part of the consortium that included Centrica and Faroe Petroleum plc (AIM: FPM) which drilled three wells, as previously announced  on 29 March 2011.

Plexus CEO Ben van Bilderbeek said, “In recent months, the accelerating level of oil and gas exploration and development activity in the North Sea has been well-documented. Thanks to a dominant position in the provision of HP/HT wellhead equipment in this region, Plexus is already seeing evidence of this increased investment in the form of contract wins including this award by Det Norske.  As a result of our success to date, we are well placed to win further repeat and new business both in the North Sea and other parts of the world where our reputation within the industry as a supplier of wellhead equipment with the highest standards of safety, reliability, time saving capabilities and performance is growing.  I look forward to providing further updates on our progress in due course.”