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LONDON (Alliance News) - Plexus Holdings PLC on Tuesday said it has struck a deal with Aquaterra Energy Ltd to jointly develop a new product for the high-pressure, high-temperature oil and gas markets which will initially focus on the North Sea area.
Plexus, an oil and gas engineering services company, is the owner of the POS-Grip rental exploration and production wellhead equipment, which is an alternative to existing 'slip and seal' and 'mandrel hanger' wellhead technologies providing, according to Plexus, improved safety, fewer components, enhanced corrosion resistance, reduced costs and increased reliability.
On Tuesday, the company said it will, with Aquaterra, jointly supply high-pressure, high-temperature dual-barrier marine risers which will utilise its POS-grip technology for the use on jack up rigs which are used to drill.
"We are delighted to enter into this agreement with Aquaterra, and working together on this exciting new product application for the commercial benefit of both parties," said Ben Van Bilderbeek, Plexus chief executive and inventor of POS-Grip.
High pressure and/or high temperature wells are more difficult to drill than conventional reservoirs and have previously been to dangerous to drill before new technology and methods, including the POS-Grip, were invented.
Under the deal, Plexus will provide jack up wellhead systems from its existing POS-Grip inventory, which will alleviate the high pressure from wells and reservoirs, and Aquaterra will provide riser analysis, rental riser systems and associated components.
A riser is a long vertical pipe which extends between the blowout preventer, which prevents explosions from high pressure, and the rig floor. These types of risers are popular with offshore or subsea applications where there are more high-pressure, high-temperature scenarios.
Plexus said that although risers exist for lower pressure applications and certain "bespoke" and higher pressure applications, the newly developed riser that Plexus and Aquaterra will offer will be "the first in the industry for high-pressure, high-temperature wells", it said in a statement.
The new product will help companies, initially in the North Sea, to save on operating and capital expenditure, improve safety, reduce tension caused by high pressure, prevent potential leaks better than alternatives and withstand environmental and operational conditions over the life of the product.
"We believe the new Dual Barrier High Pressure Riser product has the potential to provide another significant revenue stream for Plexus and our existing exploration jack up rental POS-Grip product which we already deploy for blue-chip companies for oil and gas exploration drilling globally," said Van Bilderbeek.
Separately the company announced that its POS-GRIP Python Subsea Wellhead system has been formally launched and is now commercially available, and said it is confident that this system will be ready for offshore deployment in a trial well during 2016.
Plexus shares were up 4.8% to 178.13 pence per share on Tuesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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