Plexus wins deal to supply production wellheads to Centrica North Sea

The AIM-traded firm previously supplied Centrica with its wellhead equipment for a number of exploration wells in the North Sea, but it said the new contract represented the first order awarded by Centrica for a production well.

It said the Centrica purchase order was in line with the company's strategy to extend the application of its POS-GRIP technology beyond jack-up exploration, where it had been used on more than 300 wells.

Although Plexus previously supplied its wellheads for production wells, including on the BP Amethyst gas field in the Southern North Sea in 2006, it had not yet been a main area of focus, even though the size of the market was many times that of jack-up exploration.

Under the terms of the contract, Plexus will supply Centrica with its 18-3/4" 10,000 psi wellhead and manage the interface with an existing production ‘Xmas tree’.

In addition, the company's Tersus CS casing support system and associated running tools and services would also be supplied to Centrica, and well integrity would be enhanced as the adjustable nature of POS-GRIP reportedly allowed downhole casing support to be used without casing adjustment subs to space out to the wellhead.

The well would enhance production from the Chiswick platform in the UK Southern North Sea, and was due to spud around April 2018.

Plexus said the order extended its “good working relationship” with Centrica, with whom it has a four-year framework contract in place - as announced on 9 January 2017 - and demonstrated the company's ability to deliver a suitable system within the specified time frame.

“We are delighted to have secured a first order for a production well with Centrica,” said Plexus CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek.

“Plexus is an IP-led company and our business model has always been centred on first proving the superior qualities of our proprietary POS-GRIP technology in terms of performance, reliability and safety in the jack-up exploration market, where wells are temporary in nature, before moving into other markets such as production, where wellheads are required for the entire field life of the well.”

Van Bilderbeek noted that Plexus technology had to-date been used on more than 400 jack-up exploration wells by a “blue-chip roster” of operators including Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil, BP and Centrica - many of whom had become long-standing customers of Plexus.

“We are now in addition looking to achieve the same success in other applications where we have a suite of POS-GRIP products that are available for deployment or will be developed such as subsea, geothermal and fracking.

“I look forward to providing further updates on our progress, as we look to realise the full potential of our innovative and superior technology which is particularly suitable for gas applications which is becoming increasingly important as an energy source when compared to coal and oil.”