Chesterfield producing a Special effect for Pressure

The Sheffield-based company said that increased activity in the deep water oil rig market, which began at the end of the last financial year, has continued this year.

As a consequence the group said that its forward order book has strengthened considerably.

Chief executive John Hayward told shareholders at the group’s AGM yesterday that Chesterfield Special Cylinders has secured orders for cylinders on nine drillships.

He added that market conditions for deep water oil and gas and the general oil services sector remain strong.

“We continue to make progress in the development of the trailer and in-situ inspection markets,” he said.

“Business confidence at Chesterfield Special Cylinders remains high and activity should be ahead of market expectations for this division in the current financial year.”

The group said it is confident of achieving market forecasts for the current financial year thanks to the size of its order books and the immediate pipeline.

Last month Pressure announced that its Chesterfield BioGas division had won a £1m contract to install a renewable waste gas ‘upgrading’ system in Stock- port.

Food scraps from hotels and restaurants will be turned into gas to power 1,400 homes.

Yesterday the group said it had expected to win another gas upgrader project in 2011/12 and although a number of projects are at an advanced stage of the tendering process, it is unlikely that any further orders won this financial year can be delivered in the year.

It added that there are a number of potential vehicle refuelling and trailer projects that should reduce any shortfall in activity.

The company said that Hydratron, a recent acquisition which supplies high pressure equipment to the oil and gas industries, is driving growth in the engineered products division and order books have strengthened in both the UK and the US.

The group said this is underpinned by continued optimism in the global wellhead and controls markets led by the US, which is aiming to become energy self-sufficient by 2030.

The new renewable waste system in Stockport will convert raw waste gas from rotting food into 98 per cent pure methane.

The unit is capable of processing up to 300 cubic metres of gas an hour.

The Stockport facility will open in the autumn and will be operated by Fairfield Bio Energy – a partnership between Bio Group Ltd and Centrica.

In 2010 Pressure was behind the UK’s first successful biogas upgrading venture, in Didcot.