Oil and gas engineering services firm Plexus Holdings has signed an agreement with Aquaterra Energy to jointly supply high-pressure/high-temperature dual barrier marine risers utilizing Plexus’ POS-GRIP technology.
The new risers will be a new solution for use on jackup rigs, initially in the North Sea.
Under the Agreement, Plexus will provide 18-3/4in 15,000 psi jack up Wellhead systems from its existing POS-GRIP rental equipment inventory and Aquaterra will provide riser analysis, rental riser systems and associated components. Whilst marine risers exist for low pressure well applications, as well as certain bespoke heavy wall higher pressure risers, the "Dual Barrier High Pressure Riser" will be the first in the industry for HP/HT wells.
POS-GRIP Technology will be placed at the top, and potentially at the bottom of the riser to uniquely enable a casing ‘inner’ liner to be temporarily spaced out and installed inside a conventional riser. This will increase the pressure rating of the riser system to 15,000 psi, creating a full HP/HT capability all the way from the subsea wellhead to the surface blowout preventer (BOP).
Plexus and Aquaterra believe its new product will have a number of technical advantages for the marine HP/HT riser market including: safe effective drilling, completion and work over activities from subsea wells from jackup rigs; a structurally sound pressure retaining conduit between the subsea wellhead and the rig’s BOP capable of withstanding environmental and operational conditions during service of life; reduced loading utlitising top tension risers; decreased opex and capex requirements; and environmental benefits as all metal to metal seals offer safety against potential leaks of contaminating fluids.
Plexus CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek said: “We are delighted to enter into this agreement with Aquaterra and working together on this exciting new product application for the commercial benefit of both parties.
“The agreement also marks another significant milestone for Plexus’ and our best in class POS-GRIP friction-grip method of wellhead engineering, as we continue to market it, not just to operators, but also to companies such as Aquaterra which recognise the unique engineering solutions that POS-GRIP can deliver for multiple applications across the global oil and gas arena. Another such example of this was our recent POS-SET Connector which we signed in March this year with Centrica for the growing well abandonment market.
“We believe the new Dual Barrier High Pressure Riser product has the potential to provide another significant revenue stream for Plexus and our existing exploration jack up rental POS-GRIP product which we already deploy for blue-chip companies for oil and gas exploration drilling globally. We also believe this alliance could help us gain traction in the lucrative workover and decommissioning well markets, an area that Plexus has yet to reach out to. With these developments in mind, we look forward to updating the market in due course as we continue to build a leading international oil and gas wellhead engineering company, supplying the best in class and safest wellhead equipment across exploration, production and subsea applications.”
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