UK-based oil and gas engineering services provider Plexus has been awarded a contract to supply and rent its POS-SET Connector for Norwegian firm Oceaneering’s well abandonment operations in the North Sea.
Image: An offshore gas platform. Photo: courtesy of QR9iudjz0/Freeimages.com.
Operations are expected to commence within the next eight weeks and to take approximately 10 days to complete. The order is the second Plexus has secured for the POS-SET Connector and is in line with the Company’s strategy to replicate its success in raising industry standards in jack-up exploration drilling with its best in class proprietary wellheads, by establishing POS-GRIP-enabling applications in larger and more lucrative markets, such as abandonment, surface production and subsea.
Under the terms of the contract, the project involves using the POS-SET to re-connect to a Temporarily Abandoned well. The POS-SET Connector being supplied to Oceaneering has been adapted for use on a plain end of 30″ x 1-1/2″ conductor.
The Directors believe the abandonment market has significant growth potential as a large number of ageing wells reach the end of their lives. Importantly Plexus’ POS-SET Connector facilitates abandonment operations by providing operators with a best in class solution to re-establish a connection onto rough conductor casing that has been previously cut above the seabed. In full testing, the POS-SET Connector achieved 80% of the bending and tensile strength of the parent pipe, which is a significantly superior capability when compared to conventional alternatives. The POS-SET product can also be used on other applications in addition to abandonment, including subsea completion operations using Subsea Tie Back Wellhead and Surface Wellhead Tie Back Platform Completion.
Plexus’ CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek said, “Following the sale of our Jack-Up Exploration Business to tier one service provider TechnipFMC (‘TFMC’), this second order for our POS-SET Connector from Oceaneering, which follows on from the first Centrica order, provides a timely reminder that we have a suite of POS-GRIP-enabled products ready for market. In addition, to the abandonment market, we also have products that are ready for deployment in subsea and surface production, two substantially larger markets than jack-up exploration, as well as a number of other applications that we are actively pursuing in other areas of the broader energy industry, such as geothermal, where we believe POS-GRIP can make a real difference in terms of performance and safety. It is important to remind our shareholders that as the world moves increasingly to gas consumption as a preferred hydrocarbon source, the importance of gas tight equipment, including wellheads is becoming critical, especially where for example methane leaks are concerned. Metal-to-metal sealing capabilities are therefore essential and we believe that our proprietary and patented POS-GRIP seal technology delivers the very highest standard of integrity and long term performance.
“Our aim is to raise standards across the energy industry, just as we have done in jack-up exploration drilling. We are confident that by rolling-out our licensing model, which we are initially pursuing in the CIS, we are well placed to achieve our objective. Furthermore, we believe the recent sale of our jack-up business to TFMC provides industry validation of our technology from a leading global equipment supplier. I look forward to providing further updates on our progress as we look to fully realise the potential of our technology, and in the process generate value for all our shareholders.”
Source: Company Press Release