Amec joy at deal's 1,000 jobs

Mr Blair is expected to announce that the Amec Process and Energy yard, at Wallsend on the Tyne, has won the order for Shell's new £300m floating platform for the Bonga oil field, off the coast of Nigeria.

The contract will create 700 jobs for welders, metal workers, pipe fitters and electricians at the Tyneside yard.

The news will also create about 300 jobs at the Hereema yard on the Tees, at Hartlepool, which is a sub-contractor for Amec on Tyneside.

The deal was believed to have been signed between Shell and the Nigerian Government at about 10am yesterday, with Mr Blair due to make the official announcement at the Amec site today.

Tony Windebank, human resources director at Hereema, said: "The Bonga oilfield contract is great news for our company, providing continuation of work for some time to come.

"The Bonga platform is due to arrive from Korea in September 2002 and we are currently bidding for a number of smaller contracts to keep the yard ticking over until that time."

He added: "There is also hope of more contracts in the future. A lot of oil and gas modules are expected to be needed around 2003 and we are hoping to win our fair share of that work."

Amec has seen off fierce competition from all over the world to clinch the deal to build the platform.

About 15 other international firms were believed to be bidding for the platform, including Dutch giant ABB.

Amec has been involved in complex negotiations with the Nigerian government for nearly a year, with a delegation from the company visiting the African state.

This will be the first major contract win for Amec since the £450m 11,500 tonne Shearwater gas platform left the yard last year.

In November, Amec workers were involved in a ten-day strike over changes in their contracts, which led to a 25 per cent pay cut and reduced holiday and overtime payments.

They were warned at the time that they were putting future contracts, like the Bonga platform, at risk