The head of Aberdeen well engineering specialist Plexus Holdings has joined the International Energy Agency (IEA) in saying there is "no excuse" for the oil and gas industry's failure to cut energy emissions last year.
The comments from chief executive Ben van Bilderbeek came as Plexus posted a slight increase in first-half losses, adding that revenues for the full year will undershoot expectations. However, Mr van Bilderbeek said he is "encouraged" by recent orders, including the largest-ever £5 million contract announced earlier this month for the company's POS-GRIP sealing technology.
📝 Get full unlimited access to our unrivalled business news and analysis for only £2 for 2 months.
👉 Click here to get this offer 👈
He noted that in the Global Methane Tracker report published in February, the IEA said technologies to prevent emissions are "available and are cheaper than ever to implement".
READ MORE: Scottish oil and gas explorer to slash UK workforce by 75%
"As the CEO of a company that has committed to delivering leak-free wellhead equipment solutions to [oil and gas] companies for over 20 years, I also believe that there is indeed 'no excuse', and agree with IEA executive director Faith Birol who recently urged policymakers to double down the energy industry pressure to clean up its methane pollution, mainly from leakage and distribution," Mr van Bilderbeek said.
During the six months to the end of December, Plexus made a pre-tax loss of £2.1m, an increase from a loss of £1.95m in the same period a year earlier. Revenues of £709,000 were down from £734,000 previously.
Revenues in the second half will only be "slightly higher" than in the first six months of the year, though this is because a £2.5m "special project" has been booked as a rental rather than a sold contract, with the benefits to come through in 2024.
READ MORE: World-first fuel trial could cut North Sea oil and gas emissions
"I am encouraged by the increased activity within the oil services sector, particularly exploration and production drilling, and this, combined with the raised awareness of the industry's impact on climate change, strengthens the investment case for Plexus," Mr van Bilderbeek added.
"We believe that our technology-driven ability to prevent leaks rather than just 'detecting and repairing' leaks must be the optimal way forward for the industry, and one which cannot logically be ignored."
Why are you making commenting on HeraldScotland only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here