diff --git a/opm/json/JsonObject.cpp b/opm/json/JsonObject.cpp
index 94c74d624..5b4fd2b01 100644
--- a/opm/json/JsonObject.cpp
+++ b/opm/json/JsonObject.cpp
@@ -169,6 +169,20 @@ namespace Json {
     }
 
 
+    double JsonObject::get_double(const std::string& key) const {
+        JsonObject child = get_scalar_object( key );
+        return child.as_double( );
+    }
+    
+
+    double JsonObject::as_double() const {    
+        if (root->type == cJSON_Number)
+            return root->valuedouble;
+        else
+            throw std::invalid_argument("Object is not a number object.");
+    }
+
+
     JsonObject JsonObject::get_scalar_object(const std::string& key) const{
         JsonObject child = get_item( key );
         if (child.size())
diff --git a/opm/json/JsonObject.hpp b/opm/json/JsonObject.hpp
index d7592bbbd..16586da0f 100644
--- a/opm/json/JsonObject.hpp
+++ b/opm/json/JsonObject.hpp
@@ -45,9 +45,11 @@ namespace Json {
         std::string as_string() const;
         bool is_string( ) const;
 
-        int get_int(const std::string& key) const;
         bool is_number( ) const;
+        int get_int(const std::string& key) const;
         int as_int() const;
+        double get_double(const std::string& key) const;
+        double as_double() const;
 
         bool is_array( ) const;
         bool is_object( ) const;
diff --git a/opm/json/tests/jsonTests.cpp b/opm/json/tests/jsonTests.cpp
index 653a70448..533c44687 100644
--- a/opm/json/tests/jsonTests.cpp
+++ b/opm/json/tests/jsonTests.cpp
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
  */
 
 #include <stdexcept>
+#include <math.h>
 
 #define BOOST_TEST_MODULE jsonParserTests
 #include <boost/test/unit_test.hpp>
@@ -74,21 +75,36 @@ BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(ParsevalidJSONnotString_asString_throws) {
 }
 
 
-BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(ParsevalidJSONint_asInt) {
-    std::string inline_json = "{\"key\": 100}";
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(ParsevalidJSONint_asNumber) {
+    std::string inline_json = "{\"key1\": 100, \"key2\" : 100.100 }";
     Json::JsonObject parser(inline_json);
-    Json::JsonObject value = parser.get_item("key");
+    Json::JsonObject value1 = parser.get_item("key1");
+    Json::JsonObject value2 = parser.get_item("key2");
     
-    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL( 100 , value.as_int() );
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL( 100 , value1.as_int() );
+    BOOST_CHECK( fabs(100.100 - value2.as_double()) < 0.00001 );
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(ParsevalidJSONint_isNumber) {
+    std::string inline_json = "{\"key1\": 100, \"key2\" : 100.100 , \"key3\": \"string\"}";
+    Json::JsonObject parser(inline_json);
+    Json::JsonObject value1 = parser.get_item("key1");
+    Json::JsonObject value2 = parser.get_item("key2");
+    Json::JsonObject value3 = parser.get_item("key3");
+    
+    BOOST_CHECK( value1.is_number()) ;
+    BOOST_CHECK( value2.is_number()) ;
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL( false , value3.is_number()) ;
 }
 
 
-BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(ParsevalidJSONnotint_asint_throws) {
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(ParsevalidJSONnotNumber_asNumber_throws) {
     std::string inline_json = "{\"key\": \"100X\"}";
     Json::JsonObject parser(inline_json);
     Json::JsonObject value = parser.get_item("key");
     
-    BOOST_CHECK_THROW( value.as_int() , std::invalid_argument );
+    BOOST_CHECK_THROW( value.as_int()    , std::invalid_argument );
+    BOOST_CHECK_THROW( value.as_double() , std::invalid_argument );
 }