TIDMPOS
Plexus Holdings Plc
30 September 2014
Plexus Holdings PLC / Index: AIM / Epic: POS / Sector: Oil
equipment & services
30 September 2014
Plexus Holdings PLC ('Plexus' or 'the Company')
Winner of 'Commitment to Innovative Use of Research and
Development' Award at the Northern Star Business Awards 2014
Plexus Holdings PLC, the AIM quoted oil and gas engineering
services business and owner of the proprietary POS-GRIP(R)
friction-grip method of wellhead engineering, is pleased to
announce that on 25 September 2014 it accepted the 'Commitment to
Innovative Use of Research and Development' award ('the Award') at
the 11(th) annual Northern Star Business Awards 2014, the flagship
event for the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce.
The Award recognises Plexus' long standing commitment to
research and development ('R&D') which underpins the growing
success of Plexus' proprietary friction grip method of engineering
called POS-GRIP(R). Plexus was also nominated as a finalist in the
Outstanding Contribution to the Energy Sector category in
recognition of its pioneering, safer, more cost effective, reliable
and technically superior wellhead based on its proprietary
POS-GRIP(R) technology.
The Company continues to work on a number of on-going R&D
projects, most notably a Joint Industry Project ('JIP') to develop
and commercialise a new and safer subsea wellhead, utilising its
patented POS-GRIP technology. Supported by a number of major oil
and gas operators - BG, ENI, Maersk, Shell, Total, Tullow, and
Wintershall, the JIP is focussed on developing a new subsea
wellhead, HGSS, to address key technical issues and requirements
highlightedby regulators following the Gulf of Mexico incident in
April 2010. Plexus believes that this new design will in time be
proven to be the best available and safest technology ('BAST') for
subsea wellhead applications.
CEO Ben van Bilderbeek said, "This latest award, which follows
the 'Best Oil and Gas Plc' award at the 2013 annual Stock Market
Wire Awards and the 'Entrepreneur of the Year 2013' award at the
annual Grant Thornton Quoted Company Awards, recognises Plexus'
significant and ongoing commitment to investing in R&D. As a
result of which, we have developed best-in-class surface wellhead
equipment based on our proprietary POS-GRIP(R) technology and in
turn become the dominant supplier of wellhead equipment for the
HP/HT jack-up exploration market in the North Sea. We continue to
invest in R&D as we look to apply our POS-GRIP technology to
solve widely-acknowledged challenges in the HP/HT space. To date we
have invested GBP3m to develop a new and safer subsea wellhead,
utilising Plexus' patented POS-GRIP technology. Thanks to this
investment, having now finalised the design in conjunction with our
industry partners we will soon be building a prototype, and remain
on track for first time installation in 2015.
"At the ceremony, Sir Ian Wood, author of the recently published
'UKCS Maximising Recovery Review: Final Report' received a lifetime
achievement award for successfully building one of the UK's largest
oil supply chain companies. I sincerely hope that the excellent
report encourages more investment in the UKCS, and believe that
Plexus is ideally placed to capitalise on a resurgence in North Sea
exploration activity. I also hope that the settling of the
devolution question will now also bring additional interest in and
support for exploration in the Scottish North Sea region. Finally,
we could not have won this award without the dedication and hard
work of the Company's management, fellow employees and stakeholders
all of whom have played a vital role in building Plexus to where it
is today and which lays such firm foundations for a very exciting
future."
**ENDS**
For further information please visit www.plexusplc.com or
contact:
Ben van Bilderbeek Plexus Holdings PLC Tel: 020 7795 6890
Graham Stevens Plexus Holdings PLC Tel: 020 7795 6890
Derrick Lee Cenkos Securities PLC Tel: 0131 220 9100
Alan Stewart Cenkos Securities PLC Tel: 0131 220 9774
Felicity Edwards St Brides Media & Finance Tel: 020 7236 1177
Ltd
Frank Buhagiar St Brides Media & Finance Tel: 020 7236 1177
Ltd
Notes to Editors:
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 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(R), 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. Importantly, the Company is focussed on extending its
proprietary technology into an increasing number of subsea
applications. In line with this, in March 2011 the Company launched
an initiative to develop a new subsea wellhead design, HGSS(TM),
utilising its friction-grip technology in collaboration with key
oil and gas operators and service companies. Royal Dutch Shell,
Wintershall, Maersk, TOTAL, Tullow Oil, ENI, Oil States Industries
Inc., and the UK entity of the world's largest offshore drilling
company have joined the initiative to date. The 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,
annulus pressure monitoring and access for 'bleed off' capability
to address sustained casing pressure ('SCP') issues which are
recognised by the API as a serious industry problem, and rigid
metal annular seal technology qualified to match the performance of
premium casing. The design process has now been completed, and
prototype testing is due for completion end 2014, with the running
of a prototype in the field targeted for the second half of
2015.
To date, POS-GRIP wellhead systems have been used or selected to
be used in over 300 oil and gas wells by international companies
including 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, Red Sea Petroleum Operating Company, Repsol,
RWE, Senergy Limited, Shell Egypt, StatoilHydro, Silverstone
Energy, Talisman Energy, Tullow Oil, and Wintershall.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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