Plexus receives purchase order from Aker BP

Oil and gas engineering services business and owner of the POD-GRIP proprietary friction grip wellhead engineering technology, Plexus Holdings, announced on Friday that it has received an initial purchase order from Aker BP which, following the acquisition by Det norske of BP's Norwegian assets, is Norway's largest independent petroleum producer by volume.

The AIM-traded firm said the purchase order is for the supply of surface exploration wellhead equipment for the Hyrokkin and Nordfjellet standard pressure exploration wells, offshore Norway.

It said the initial value of of the contract was estimated at around £0.7m with revenues expected to commence in the next financial year in July 2017.

There is the potential for the contract to be extended to include additional wells in the future, Plexus’ board added.

Aker BP operates a “highly efficient” drilling and well planning process to minimise overall project costs, Plexus explained, which resulted in recent wells being drilled in record time.

For that and any subsequent wells that are to be drilled in its latest exploration project, Plexus developed a new “innovative connector” called POS-SPEED, which reportedly delivers additional time savings for the operator.

The initiative further built upon the already sizeable time savings and cost efficiencies delivered by the company's 18-3/4" POS-GRIP through BOP surface wellhead, the board explained, with each of the wells expected to take around 30 days to drill.

“Over the years, we have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Det norske, having been awarded a total of nine purchase orders from the leading Norwegian operator since 2012,” said Plexus CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek.

“We are therefore delighted to have won this latest contract from the new entity Aker BP.

“Importantly, Plexus did not win this potentially multi-well contract based solely on our unblemished track record supplying Det norske with our best in class wellheads, but also thanks to our constant efforts to further build on and deliver the already industry-leading time, safety and cost savings our equipment offers.”