Plexus Regulatory News (POS)

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

8 September 2015

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

Collaboration Agreement with Aquaterra for New Product Launch - High Pressure/High Temperature Risers

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, announces that it has signed an agreement with Aquaterra Energy Ltd, an international energy engineering solutions company ('Aquaterra'), to jointly supply High Pressure/ High Temperature dual barrier marine risers utilising Plexus' POS-GRIP technology to provide a safer, technically superior and cost efficient solution for the use on jack up rigs, initially in the North Sea market ('the Agreement').  This Agreement is in line with Plexus' strategy to extend its POS-GRIP product reach into new and commercially attractive markets.

Under the Agreement, Plexus will provide 18-3/4" 15,000 psi jack up Wellhead systems from its existing POS-GRIP rental equipment inventory and Aquaterra will provide riser analysis, rental riser systems and associated components. Whilst marine risers exist for low pressure well applications, as well as certain bespoke heavy wall higher pressure risers, the 'Dual Barrier High Pressure Riser' will be the first in the industry for HP/HT wells. POS-GRIP Technology will be placed at the top, and potentially at the bottom of the riser to uniquely enable a casing 'inner' liner to be temporarily spaced out and installed inside a conventional riser. This will increase the pressure rating of the riser system to 15,000 psi, creating a full HP/HT capability all the way from the subsea wellhead to the surface Blow-Out Preventer ('BOP').

Plexus and Aquaterra believe its new product will have a number of technical advantages for the marine HP/HT riser market including: safe effective drilling, completion and work over activities from subsea wells from jack-up rigs; a structurally sound pressure retaining conduit between the subsea wellhead and the rig's BOP capable of withstanding environmental and operational conditions during service of life; reduced loading utlitising top tension risers; decreased opex and capex requirements; and environmental benefits as all metal to metal seals offer safety against potential leaks of contaminating fluids.

Plexus CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek said, "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.

"The Agreement also marks another significant milestone for Plexus' and our best in class POS-GRIP friction-grip method of wellhead engineering, as we continue to market it, not just to operators, but also to companies such as Aquaterra which recognise the unique engineering solutions that POS-GRIP can deliver for multiple applications across the global oil and gas arena. Another such example of this was our recent POS-SET Connector™ which we signed in March this year with Centrica for the growing well abandonment market.

"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. We also believe this alliance could help us gain traction in the lucrative workover and decommissioning well markets, an area that Plexus has yet to reach out to. With these developments in mind, we look forward to updating the market in due course as we continue to build a leading international oil and gas wellhead engineering company, supplying the best in class and safest wellhead equipment across exploration, production and subsea applications."

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For further information please visit www.posgrip.com or contact:

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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 will be on display at the SPE Offshore Europe Exhibition and Conference in Aberdeen ('OE2015') in September.

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.

Aquaterra Energy

Aquaterra is a UK based engineering, service and project management business providing products and services to the offshore oil and gas industry. With extensive experience in the North Sea, Asia-Pacific, West Africa, Europe and USA, Aquaterra specialises in the provision of drilling riser and conductor solutions, offshore minimum facilities platforms and subsea equipment design and fabrication.