Plexus Regulatory News (POS)

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

15 June 2015

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

£3.3m POS-GRIP Wellhead Supply Contract signed with New Customer Total for Ultra High Pressure/ High Temperature Solaris Well Offshore 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, announces that it has secured a new customer via a £3.3 million contract win with oil and gas major, Total E&P Norge AS ('Total'), to supply its POS-GRIP wellhead systems, associated equipment and mudline services for Total's Ultra High Pressure/High Temperature ('X-HP/HT') Solaris gas exploration well in the Graben area of the North Sea, offshore Norway. Revenues for the contract are scheduled to commence in October 2015. This contract win is in line with Plexus' strategy to increase its global presence as a leading supplier of best in class wellhead equipment in terms of performance, reliability and safety for exploration, production and subsea activities.

Notably Plexus was identified as the most suitable candidate for this project due to the unique adjustable nature of its wellhead systems. Plexus' wellhead systems can safely operate through the BOP within X-HP/HT conditions estimated at up to 17,000 - 19,000 psi maximum well pressure, whilst supporting casing at the ocean floor on its proprietary mudline hanger system. Solaris is located close to BG Norge's Mandarin East well, which is also known for its extreme high pressure conditions and initial data suggests that Solaris may be the highest pressure well in the North Sea to date. Under the terms of the contract, Plexus will supply its 18-3/4" XHP/HT POS-GRIP Jack-up drilling system.

Plexus' CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek said, "This contract confirms that even during challenging times, operators focus on the best and safest solutions, when conditions demand it. Plexus provides the superior solutions for jack-up drilling operations, because our technology combines the high pressure metal to metal sealing, with the ability to leave the Blowout Preventers (BOPs) on the well throughout the drilling programme. As exploring and extraction of gas goes deeper, is more complex and must be conducted in delicate environments; innovative, safe and effective wellhead technology becomes ever more important. Safety is in the detail and particularly wellheads cannot afford to be the weak link in the system and for this reason Plexus seeks to use unique metal seal technology which matches the integrity of casing couplings.

"Our Plexus team is proud to have been selected on this well, which is designed to cope with some of the highest pressures ever drilled in the Norwegian part of the North Sea. We are also delighted to be working with Total as a new client on this drilling project. Further, Total through one of its research groups, has worked with Plexus over the past four years on the development of a new generation subsea wellhead system, under the auspices of the "Python" Joint Industry Project ('JIP'). The Python JIP is sponsored by a number of major operating companies and will be launched at the Aberdeen Offshore Europe Oil show ('OE2015') in September 2015."

**ENDS**

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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, Bowleven plc, BP, Brunei Shell Petroleum, Cairn Energy, Centrica, ConocoPhillips, Dana Petroleum, Dubai Petroleum, 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, 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, HGSS™, 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 HGSS 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 HGSS prototype wellhead system commenced in February, and is expected to be completed in readiness for 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.