UK Firm Riding High in the Middle East

The UK's project management and engineering services provider, Amec, has won a contract worth up to $300 million to manage oilfields in Kuwait. This is the first time the Kuwait Oil Company has awarded such a big contract to a UK company.

The five-year contract will involve Amec in managing the development of KOC's upstream oil assets in the south of Kuwait. Amec will assess the existing oilfields and establish how to improve their performance. The company will oversee engineering work and provide environmental consultancy, risk management and training.

The Kuwait project follows three contracts won by Amec and Fluor, its US partner, in Iraq earlier this month. Last week the joint venture owned 49 per cent by Amec, won two reconstruction deals worth $1.1 billion for restoring water and sewerage infrastructure in north and south Iraq.

The venture has also won a $500 million Iraqi power supply contract.

Amec's shares have outperformed the UK market in recent months - rising 18.6 per cent since the beginning of the year - on the back of its success in Iraq. Merrill Lynch endorsed the company's business strategy on Friday with a "buy" recommendation on the stock.