AMEC is poised to clinch a deal worth up to $1.2 billion (£653 million) to rebuild oilfields in Iraq.

If successful it will be the second win in a week for the British engineering company after Fluor, its US partner, picked up construction-related contracts for the US Army’s Corps of Engineers. Amec is expected to share in the contract, worth up to $1.5 billion.

The Corps of Engineers is expected to award two separate oilfield restoration contracts tomorrow, after several delays.

Amec is bidding jointly with Fluor on both contracts, which they hope to prise away from Halliburton. The contract for the Northern Iraq oilfield is worth up to $800 million, and the contract for the Southern Iraq oilfield is worth up to $1.2 billion.

It is expected that the partners would be awarded only one of the two oil contracts. British companies that have already won contracts to help to put Iraq back on its feet include Halcrow, Mowlem and Mott MacDonald, which are all working with the US and British military on emergency construction contracts.

De La Rue, the British bank note group, is to print the new Iraq currency and a consortium including Standard Chartered Bank will soon be processing financial transactions in Iraq. Cummins, Aggreko and Siemens UK have all won contracts in the power sector, and Datasat has won a major telecommunications contract.

Competition for the largest tranche of contracts — worth $18.6 billion — is intense. A further $6 billion worth of projects is expected to be advertised soon.

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