Senergy joins Plexus’ subsea wellhead JIP

Plexus Holdings PLC announced that Senergy Holdings Limited has signed up as an additional Consulting Partner to Plexus’ on-going Joint Industry Project (‘JIP’) to develop and commercialise a new and safer subsea wellhead, utilising Plexus’ patented POS-GRIP technology.

This follows previous news releases announcing that Total E&P Recherche Developpement SAS, Maersk Oil North Sea UK Ltd, Shell International Exploration and Production B.V., Wintershall Noordzee B.V., Tullow Oil, Eni S.p.A, Oil States Industries Inc., and the UK entity of the world’s largest offshore drilling company, have all signed up as consulting partners to the JIP.

The JIP is focussed on developing a new subsea wellhead, HGSS™, to address key technical issues and requirements highlighted by regulators following the Gulf of Mexico incident in April 2010.

All members of the JIP have been contributing to the design and engineering process, and it is Plexus’ goal that they will become end-users once the wellhead has been fully built, tested and commercialised.  Importantly, all intellectual property generated by the JIP will be owned by Plexus, and will be added to the Company’s extensive and unchallenged POS-GRIP patent suite.

Senergy is now a member of the Lloyd’s Register Group which further underlines its commitment to technical assurance and asset integrity. Among Senergy’s integrated specialist services is its expertise and track record in planning and executing oil and gas wells on behalf of a number of clients internationally, including both major multinational operators and small independents. As such, the company has extensive experience of currently available subsea wellhead products.

In addition to the product specification consulting period currently under way by all members of the JIP, Senergy has also committed to assisting the JIP by providing an installation time and cost comparison study of the POS-GRIP® ‘HGSS™’ Subsea Wellhead against existing conventional subsea wellhead products.

Plexus’ CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek said, “We are naturally delighted to welcome Senergy as the eighth member of our pioneering subsea wellhead joint industry project aimed at developing a new and safer subsea wellhead to resolve keytechnical issues and requirements highlighted by regulators following the Gulf of Mexico wellhead incident in 2010.  In this regard, we are making excellent progress with our Subsea JIP where we are working alongside major oil and gas companies, illustrating the strong industry support for a new subsea wellhead. To date, the new HGSS Subsea Wellhead design is in the final completion stages, and manufacturing of test fixtures is underway with full system testing expected to be completed in Q3 2014. From here the JIP will move to building of the prototype and then a first time installation. We believe our entry into the subsea market will not only be a major milestone for the Company, but a transformational leap for the wider oil and gas wellhead industry and we look forward to reporting on developments as the JIP and Subsea Wellhead design progresses.”

Willem Boon, Global Business Lead – Wells with Senergy said, “Senergy values industry collaboration which focuses on building upon HSEQ practises as well as increasing efficiency and optimising the success of operations. Therefore we look forward to supporting this innovative new subsea wellhead development and helping to achieve tangible results for the drilling and production sector. Through our long-established and successful wells business, which is continuing to grow rapidly around the world, we have a strong track record in delivering specialist integrated services including technical excellence and project management. Our involvement in this project will further heighten our expertise by giving us first-hand knowledge and experience of the HGSS wellhead. We always strive to provide the safest and most efficient equipment for our clients, and involvement in this project will ensure that we fully understand its benefits and how it will benefit our customers when it becomes available.”