Oil and gas services firm Plexus has announced the sale of two POS-GRIP 18 3/4″ rental wellhead sets and associated mudline equipment and tooling to LLC Gusar.
Plexus said on Wednesday that Gusar, the company’s partner and licensee in Russia, bought the two POS-GRIP sets for £1.4 million ($1.94 million).
The wellheads will serve as the basis for Gusar’s POS-GRIP rental exploration wellhead inventory and are planned to be used for gas exploration drilling within the Russian Federation under the exclusive license agreement between Plexus and Gusar and CJSC Konar, two independent Russian oil and gas equipment manufacturers.
According to Plexus, the sale represents a major milestone towards delivering its POS-GRIP equipment in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), one of the top three hydrocarbon producers in the world with significant gas reserves.
In January 2016 , the company entered into the license agreement, which conferred to Gusar and Konar the right to manufacture and rent Plexus’ proprietary jack-up exploration wellhead and associated equipment within the Russian Federation and the other CIS states. Under the terms of the agreement, Plexus agreed to sell to Gusar up to three suitably configured POS-GRIP wellhead systems.
Gusar can add to this initial rental inventory by manufacturing POS-GRIP wellhead systems under license. Plexus will receive royalties based on the value of any Plexus products rented or sold by Gusar or Konar.
The two wellhead sets of equipment sold to Gusar are expected to be deployed on jack-up gas exploration wells.
The sale follows an initial purchase order from Gusar for Plexus’ Tersus mudline suspension system equipment in April 2017.
Following the recent completion of the disposal of its wellhead exploration equipment and services business for jack-up applications to FMC Technologies , for up to £42.5million, Plexus retained the right to pursue jack-up exploration related business in Russia and the CIS.
Plexus’ CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek said: “The sale of these two wellhead sets is a key step towards Gusar securing a landmark first rental order from a local Russian gas operator for our POS-GRIP wellhead equipment. As evidenced by its successful deployment on numerous wells in the North Sea, our technology, and HG metal sealing are ideally suited to the high pressures and temperatures – and hence environmental risks – associated with gas. As a result, Russia represents a major opportunity for the company, and I am very pleased to see our belief in this market coming to fruition.”
Gusar’s general director, Alexander Beryozkin , said: “We are delighted to kick-start the build-up of our POS-GRIP exploration rental fleet with the purchase of these initial two wellhead sets. This follows a period of active engagement with Russian operators, which has resulted in highly encouraging feedback.”
In recent news, a non-executive director of Plexus decided to retire from his position in the company.