A FIRM in the North-East hopes to break into the lucrative US market and push turnover through the £10m mark.

Subsurface imaging specialist ffA is a world leader in the development of 3D seismic image processing and analysis technology for the oil and gas industry.

The Newcastle-based company already works with many of the industry's biggest names, including BP, Shell, Hydro and Conoco Phillips, developing technology to analyse the seismic data the companies rely on to find and exploit oil reserves.

About half of the company's projects currently focus on the North Sea, with systems also used for explorations across the Pacific Rim and in South America.

FfA is now looking to establish a presence in Houston, Texas, and target on and offshore projects in the US. It also wants to double turnover year-on-year for the next three years, reaching £10.4m by 2010.

Chief executive Campbell Fox said: "The worldwide oil exploration market continues to grow significantly, as producers look for new fields to replace others that are reaching the end of their productive lives.

"The speed and accuracy with which these companies can assess subsurface data often makes a fundamental difference to whether the exploration process is success- ful, and increasing numbers of the industry's biggest names are work-ing with our best-in-class technology to maximise their chances of success."

FfA recently secured investment through fund management firm NEL Fund Managers. It is the latest of several investments that ffA has accessed over the past six years from Evolve Finance, NEL's specialist debt and mezzanine finance division.

Mr Fox said the investment will help the company to expand.

"We believe that the technologies we have in place and in development will enable us to successfully establish ourselves in the North America market," he said.

"We have had a close and successful partnership with the NEL team over several years - they understand our business and the opportunities that our sector offers, and have crucially been able to provide ongoing investment as new opportunities have arisen for us."

FfA also has an office in Aberdeen, which it opened in 2001.