Plexus secures £600,000 wellhead order in Norway

Aberdeen-based oil and gas technology firm Plexus Holdings has won an order from Norwegian explorer Det Norske.

Plexus boss Ben van Bilderbeek said the deal was 'particularly encouraging'. Picture: Contributed

Plexus, which develops wellheads aimed at preventing the type of blowout behind the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster, said the deal was worth about £600,000, with revenues expected to start flowing in July.

Under the deal, the Aim-quoted firm – which earlier this year warned that its full-year results would fall “very significantly” below City hopes – will supply a wellhead and mudline system for a well being drilled using the Maersk Interceptor jack-up rig in Norwegian waters. This will be the eighth Det Norske well to use the Plexus Pos-Grip wellhead system.

Plexus chief executive Ben van Bilderbeek said: “What makes this latest order with Det Norske particularly encouraging is that it has been awarded at a time when drilling activity in the North Sea and other hydrocarbon regions has dropped off sharply on the back of the volatile oil price environment.

“Together with the contracts we were awarded in Oman and Malaysia earlier in the year, we have now won three contracts in the first two months of 2016. In our view, this demonstrates the established support for our best-in-class wellhead equipment among blue chip operators, particularly in regions where exploration drilling activity is taking place and where we have long-standing relationships, and also that we will continue to secure market share when exploration drilling activity picks up as it inevitably will.”