UK consultant Amec has been appointed as project management consultant (PMC) the environmental remediation of oil fields across Kuwait.

State-upstream operator, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has not formally signed the agreement yet, according to a source close to the company, although this is understood to be imminent.

Amec submitted the lowest price at $34.36m on 20 March. The company beat rival prices from Australia’s WorleyParsons at $39.61m and SMEC International, also of Australia, which submitted a price of $44.96m. Nine firms in total were prequalified to bid.

The scope of work includes the survey of contaminated areas, dividing them into individual project packages. The deal also involves drawing up a nine-year project plan, including the preparation of an explosive ordnance detection strategy and technical specifications for tenders to enable detailed design and procurement. Tenders are expected to be issued in December.

The environmental damage at the oil fields was caused during the Iraqi invasion in 1991. The programme will be funded by the UN Compensation Commission, which was established at the end of the First Gulf War.

KOC already awarded three contracts in February for the recovery of oil from decontaminated soil in the country’s southeastern oil fields. The deals, worth a total of $163.7m, went to South Korea’s GS Engineering & Construction, Spain’s Hera and India’s Teri.