diff --git a/cmake/Modules/FindSuiteSparse.cmake b/cmake/Modules/FindSuiteSparse.cmake
index b23303c1c..0b77b836c 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/FindSuiteSparse.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/FindSuiteSparse.cmake
@@ -232,14 +232,6 @@ if (UMFPACK_LIBRARY)
 	  set (UMFPACK_EXTRA_LIBS "-NOTFOUND")
 	endif (CHOLMOD_LIBRARIES)
   endif (HAVE_UMFPACK_WITHOUT_CHOLMOD)
-  # test if umfpack is underlinked (CentOS 5.9), i.e. doesn't specify
-  # that it depends on amd. in that case, force amd to be linked
-  if (UMFPACK_EXTRA_LIBS AND (CMAKE_CXX_PLATFORM_ID STREQUAL "Linux") AND CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCC)
-	try_compile_umfpack (HAVE_UMFPACK_NOT_UNDERLINKED "-Wl,--as-needed" ${UMFPACK_EXTRA_LIBS})
-	if (NOT HAVE_UMFPACK_NOT_UNDERLINKED)
-	  list (APPEND UMFPACK_LINKER_FLAGS "-Wl,--no-as-needed")
-	endif (NOT HAVE_UMFPACK_NOT_UNDERLINKED)
-  endif (UMFPACK_EXTRA_LIBS AND (CMAKE_CXX_PLATFORM_ID STREQUAL "Linux") AND CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCC)
   list (APPEND UMFPACK_LIBRARIES ${UMFPACK_EXTRA_LIBS})
   list (REVERSE UMFPACK_LIBRARIES)
   list (REMOVE_DUPLICATES UMFPACK_LIBRARIES)
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/FindUG.cmake b/cmake/Modules/FindUG.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b1f8ea6ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/Modules/FindUG.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+#
+# This module first tests for UG and then sets the necessary flags
+# and config.h defines. If UG is found UG_FOUND will be true.
+#
+
+# this function is required in order not to pollute the global
+# namespace with the macros defined in ug-config*.cmake
+function(opmFindUg)
+  if(NOT UG_ROOT)
+    # check whether UG is in /usr/local
+    if(EXISTS "/usr/local/include/ug")
+      set(UG_ROOT "/usr/local")
+
+      # check whether UG is in /usr
+    elseif(EXISTS "/usr/include/ug")
+      set(UG_ROOT "/usr")
+      
+      # oops
+    else()
+      message(STATUS "Could not find UG. It seems to be not installed.")
+      return()
+    endif()
+  endif()
+
+  if(UG_ROOT AND NOT UG_DIR)
+    # define the directory where the config file resides
+    if(EXISTS "${UG_ROOT}/lib/cmake/ug/ug-config.cmake")
+      set(UG_DIR ${UG_ROOT}/lib/cmake/ug)
+    elseif(EXISTS "${UG_ROOT}/lib64/cmake/ug/ug-config.cmake")
+      set(UG_DIR ${UG_ROOT}/lib64/cmake/ug)
+    else()
+      message(WARNING "Could not find file ug-config.cmake relative to given UG_ROOT")
+      return()
+    endif()
+  endif()
+
+  # include the config mode files kindly provided by UG...
+  include(${UG_DIR}/ug-config-version.cmake)
+  include(${UG_DIR}/ug-config.cmake)
+
+  set(UG_FOUND "1")
+  if(NOT UG_FOR_DUNE STREQUAL "yes")
+    set(UG_FOUND "0")
+    message(WARNING "UG was not configured for DUNE. Did pass --enable-dune to its configure?")
+    return()
+  endif()
+
+  set(HAVE_UG ${UG_FOUND})
+
+  # parse version
+  string(REGEX REPLACE "([0-9]*)\\.[0-9]*\\..*" "\\1" UG_VERSION_MAJOR "${PACKAGE_VERSION}")
+  string(REGEX REPLACE "[0-9]*\\.([0-9]*)\\..*" "\\1" UG_VERSION_MINOR "${PACKAGE_VERSION}")
+  string(REGEX REPLACE "[0-9]*\\.[0-9]*\\.([0-9]*).*" "\\1" UG_VERSION_REVISION "${PACKAGE_VERSION}")
+
+  string(REGEX REPLACE ".*-patch([0-9]*)" "\\1" TMP "${PACKAGE_VERSION}")
+  if(TMP STREQUAL "${PACKAGE_VERSION}")
+    set(UG_VERSION_PATCHLEVEL "")
+  else()
+    set(UG_VERSION_PATCHLEVEL "${TMP}")
+  endif()
+
+  # Adjust compiler/linker arguments
+  set(UG_LIBRARY_DIR "${libdir}")
+  
+  foreach (UG_RAW_LIB "-lugS2" "-lugS3" "-ldevS")
+    string(REGEX REPLACE "-l(.*)" "\\1" UG_LIB "${UG_RAW_LIB}")
+    set(UG_LIB_FILE  "${UG_LIBRARY_DIR}/lib${UG_LIB}.a")
+    if (EXISTS "${UG_LIB_FILE}")
+      set(UG_LIBS "${UG_LIBS}" ${UG_LIB_FILE})
+    else()
+      set(UG_LIBS "${UG_LIBS}" ${UG_LIB})
+    endif()
+  endforeach()
+
+  set(UG_LIBRARIES "${UG_LIBS}")
+
+  # export all variables which need to be seen globally
+  set(UG_FOUND "${UG_FOUND}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+  set(HAVE_UG "${HAVE_UG}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+  set(UG_INCLUDE_DIRS "${UG_INCLUDES}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+  set(UG_LIBRARIES "${UG_LIBRARIES}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+  set(UG_VERSION_MAJOR "${UG_VERSION_MAJOR}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+  set(UG_VERSION_MINOR "${UG_VERSION_MINOR}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+  set(UG_VERSION_REVISION "${UG_VERSION_REVISION}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+  set(UG_VERSION_PATCHLEVEL "${UG_VERSION_PATCHLEVEL}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+
+  set(UG_DEFINITIONS "${UG_COMPILE_FLAGS}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+endfunction()
+
+if (NOT HAVE_UG)
+  opmFindUg()
+  
+  set(HAVE_UG "${HAVE_UG}" CACHE BOOL "UG library is available")
+  set(UG_INCLUDE_DIRS "${UG_INCLUDE_DIRS}" CACHE STRING "Directory containing the headers of the UG library")
+  set(UG_LIBRARIES "${UG_LIBRARIES}" CACHE STRING "The libraries which need to be linked to be able to use the UG library")
+  set(UG_DEFINITIONS "${UG_DEFINITIONS}" CACHE STRING "The compiler flags for the UG library")
+  set(UG_VERSION_MAJOR "${UG_VERSION_MAJOR}" CACHE INT "Major version of the UG release")
+  set(UG_VERSION_MINOR "${UG_VERSION_MINOR}" CACHE INT "Minor version of the UG release")
+  set(UG_VERSION_REVISION "${UG_VERSION_REVISION}" CACHE INT "Revision of the UG release")
+  set(UG_VERSION_PATCHLEVEL "${UG_VERSION_PATCHLEVEL}" CACHE INT "Patchlevel of the UG release")
+
+  mark_as_advanced(HAVE_UG)
+  mark_as_advanced(UG_INCLUDE_DIRS)
+  mark_as_advanced(UG_LIBRARIES)
+  mark_as_advanced(UG_DEFINITIONS)
+  mark_as_advanced(UG_VERSION_MAJOR)
+  mark_as_advanced(UG_VERSION_MINOR)
+  mark_as_advanced(UG_VERSION_REVISION)
+  mark_as_advanced(UG_VERSION_PATCHLEVEL)
+else()
+  set(UG_FOUND "0")
+endif()
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/Finddune-grid.cmake b/cmake/Modules/Finddune-grid.cmake
index dd04e0de6..4fa53ae8b 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/Finddune-grid.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/Finddune-grid.cmake
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ find_opm_package (
   dune-common REQUIRED;
   dune-geometry REQUIRED;
   MPI;
-  ALUGrid
+  ALUGrid;
+  UG
   "
   # header to search for
   "dune/grid/onedgrid.hh"
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/UseOnlyNeeded.cmake b/cmake/Modules/UseOnlyNeeded.cmake
index 16f3d078a..8a195bf48 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/UseOnlyNeeded.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/UseOnlyNeeded.cmake
@@ -23,9 +23,11 @@ function (prepend var_name value)
   endif (NOT ("${_var_pre}" STREQUAL "${value}"))
 endfunction (prepend var_name value)
 
+option (ONLY_NEEDED_LIBRARIES "Instruct the linker to not use libraries which are unused" OFF)
+
 # only ELF shared objects can be underlinked, and only GNU will accept
 # these parameters; otherwise just leave it to the defaults
-if ((CMAKE_CXX_PLATFORM_ID STREQUAL "Linux") AND CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCC)
+if ((CMAKE_CXX_PLATFORM_ID STREQUAL "Linux") AND CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCC AND ONLY_NEEDED_LIBRARIES)
   # these are the modules whose probes will turn up incompatible
   # flags on some systems
   set (_maybe_underlinked
@@ -45,4 +47,4 @@ if ((CMAKE_CXX_PLATFORM_ID STREQUAL "Linux") AND CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCC)
 	prepend (CMAKE_MODULE_LINKER_FLAGS "-Wl,--as-needed")
 	prepend (CMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS "-Wl,--as-needed")
   endif (NOT _underlinked)
-endif ((CMAKE_CXX_PLATFORM_ID STREQUAL "Linux")  AND CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCC)
+endif ((CMAKE_CXX_PLATFORM_ID STREQUAL "Linux")  AND CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCC AND ONLY_NEEDED_LIBRARIES)
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/UseWarnings.cmake b/cmake/Modules/UseWarnings.cmake
index 8e42423d6..82bf81913 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/UseWarnings.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/UseWarnings.cmake
@@ -12,3 +12,20 @@ if (CXX_COMPAT_GCC)
 	add_options (ALL_LANGUAGES ALL_BUILDS "${_warn_flag}")
   endif (_warn_flag)
 endif ()
+
+option(SILENCE_EXTERNAL_WARNINGS "Disable some warnings from external packages (requires GCC 4.6 or newer)" OFF)
+if(SILENCE_EXTERNAL_WARNINGS AND CXX_COMPAT_GCC)
+  file(WRITE ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/disable_warning_pragmas.h "
+#pragma GCC diagnostic push
+#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored \"-Wdeprecated-declarations\"
+#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored \"-Wdeprecated-register\"
+#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored \"-Wignored-qualifiers\"
+#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored \"-Wmismatched-tags\"
+#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored \"-Wshadow\"
+#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored \"-Wsign-compare\"
+#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored \"-Wunused-parameter\"")
+  file(WRITE ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/reenable_warning_pragmas.h "#pragma GCC diagnostic pop")
+else()
+    file(WRITE ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/disable_warning_pragmas.h "")
+    file(WRITE ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/reenable_warning_pragmas.h "")
+endif()
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/opm-core-prereqs.cmake b/cmake/Modules/opm-core-prereqs.cmake
index 8b3d45de1..8249a64b8 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/opm-core-prereqs.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/opm-core-prereqs.cmake
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 set (opm-core_CONFIG_VAR
 	HAVE_ERT
 	HAVE_SUITESPARSE_UMFPACK_H
+	HAVE_DUNE_ISTL
+	HAVE_MPI
 	)
 
 # dependencies
@@ -27,6 +29,8 @@ set (opm-core_DEPS
 	"TinyXML"
 	# Ensembles-based Reservoir Tools (ERT)
 	"ERT"
+	# Look for MPI support
+	"MPI"
 	# DUNE dependency
 	"dune-common"
 	"dune-istl"
diff --git a/cmake/Scripts/configure b/cmake/Scripts/configure
index 69ba2ce45..c87eecf18 100755
--- a/cmake/Scripts/configure
+++ b/cmake/Scripts/configure
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ Optional Features:
   --config-cache          Reuse build configuration cache from a previous run
 
 Optional Packages:
+  --with-ug=PATH          use the UG libraries from a specified location
   --with-alugrid=PATH     use the ALUGrid library from a specified location
   --with-metis=PATH       use the METIS graph partitioning library from a specified location
   --with-boost=PATH       use Boost library from a specified location
@@ -256,6 +257,7 @@ for OPT in "$@"; do
             superlu     |\
             SuiteSparse |\
             TinyXML     |\
+            ug          |\
             opm         |\
             opm-*       |\
             dune        |\