Wellhead engineering firm Plexus Holdings says it is confident exploration activity will soon pick up from today's historic lows, after signing a four-year framework agreement with Centrica Norway.
Under the agreement, Aberdeen-based Plexus will supply Centrica with surface wellhead and mudline equipment services for jackup exploration wells of all pressure ratings in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
Plexus has previously supplied Centrica with its wellhead equipment for a number of wells in the North Sea including those on the Butch exploration and appraisal wells (now known as the Oda projects) in the Norwegian sector between 2012 and 2014. Under the terms of the agreement, Centrica can request up to three further one-year extensions following the end of the initial four-year term.
Plexus’ CEO Ben Van Bilderbeek said: “While the agreement is specifically for supplying exploration wells in the Norwegian North Sea, we are confident that we can use this as a platform from which we can tender for future business with Centrica in other geographies and in other markets such as production and subsea. Together with the recent announcements of agreed production cuts by both OPEC and certain non-OPEC producers, we are hopeful that the point at which supply and demand reach equilibrium has been brought forward, and that as a result exploration activity will soon begin to pick up from today’s historic lows. In the meantime, as today’s framework agreement demonstrates, we continue to work hard to ensure that Plexus is well placed to hit the ground running once the exploration sector reignites.”