AMEC, the international project management and services company, today announced that Houston-based subsidiary AMEC Paragon was selected by the Turkish national oil company, Turkiye Petrolleri A.O. (TPAO), to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) for a natural gas drilling and wellhead platform in the Western Black Sea near Akçakoca, Turkey.

As operator for the Akçakoca Gas Field Development Project, TPAO holds a 51 percent share in the development. Toreador Resources (USA) and Stratic Energy (Canada) are joint venture partners.

Prompted by Turkey’s rapidly growing demand for natural gas resources, the project represents a significant milestone for the country as the Turkish Black Sea’s first major gas development project. Financial details of the award are undisclosed.

Recent exploratory discoveries in the Black Sea evidence major reserves in the region, which TPAO plans to develop to reduce Turkey’s dependence on imported hydrocarbons and gain a foothold as a significant player in Middle East and African oil and gas production.

“We are honored to assist TPAO in its efforts to increase Turkey’s production by exploiting the much-needed energy resources from the Black Sea,” said Terrance Ivers, AMEC Paragon’s president. “We are bringing our worldwide project execution expertise to the Akçakoca project to help TPAO maximize efficiency by optimizing offshore infrastructure.”

AMEC Paragon’s work aims to expand gas production capacity, currently achieved via three minimal tripods, by 35% to 75 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd). A new four-legged platform in 312 feet of water will be installed over two existing exploratory wells. TPAO plans to drill three or four additional production wells from the same platform. Additional exploratory wells are planned for 2008.

After FEED, AMEC Paragon expects to provide detailed engineering and construction management for the platform facilities, pipeline and drilling rig.

Mehmet Kul, Deputy Director of TPAO’s Production Division, said, “We value AMEC Paragon’s design and project management experience and will look to them to help devise the offshore infrastructure to allow us efficient access to the significant Black Sea reserves.”

AMEC Paragon performed a concept identification and ranking study for TPAO in early 2006 to determine the type of platform and facilities most suitable for the site.

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AMEC plc is a focused supplier of high-value consultancy, engineering, and project management services to the world’s energy, power and process industries. With annual revenues of over £2.2 billion, AMEC designs, delivers and maintains strategic and complex assets for its customers. AMEC's Natural Resources, Power and Process and Earth and Environmental businesses employ approximately 18,000 people in more than 25 countries globally. AMEC shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange where the company is listed in the Support Services Sector (LSE: AMEC:L) . www.amec.com

AMEC’s Natural Resources business is a leading provider of total life-of-asset services to customers in the upstream and downstream oil and gas sectors, petrochemicals, pipelines and mining industries, with a strong reputation for balancing global excellence with local delivery.

AMEC Paragon is AMEC’s hub for oil and gas operations based in Houston, Texas, providing engineering, materials management, and construction management services to the oil and gas, pipeline, and midstream industries. Specialties include onshore and offshore production facilities, offshore platforms, onshore and offshore pipelines, floating production systems, and subsea systems. AMEC Paragon has completed more than 4,000 projects in 30 countries for over 260 clients. www.amecparagon.com.

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