diff --git a/opm/autodiff/CPRPreconditioner.hpp b/opm/autodiff/CPRPreconditioner.hpp
index 84afac7f5..27e81592e 100644
--- a/opm/autodiff/CPRPreconditioner.hpp
+++ b/opm/autodiff/CPRPreconditioner.hpp
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@
 #include <opm/autodiff/ParallelOverlappingILU0.hpp>
 namespace Opm
 {
-namespace
+
+namespace ISTLUtility
 {
 ///
 /// \brief A traits class for selecting the types of the preconditioner.
@@ -85,6 +86,7 @@ struct CPRSelector
     {
         return new Operator(m);
     }
+
 };
 
 #if HAVE_MPI
@@ -266,8 +268,49 @@ createEllipticPreconditionerPointer(const M& Ae, double relax,
         ::EllipticPreconditionerPointer EllipticPreconditionerPointer;
     return EllipticPreconditionerPointer(new ParallelPreconditioner(Ae, comm, relax));
 }
-#endif
-} // end namespace
+
+#endif // #if HAVE_MPI
+
+/// \brief Creates the elliptic preconditioner (ILU0)
+/// \param opA     The operator representing the matrix of the system.
+/// \param relax   The relaxation parameter for ILU0.
+/// \param comm    The object describing the parallelization information and communication.
+//  \param amgPtr  The unique_ptr to be filled (return)
+template <class Op, class P, class AMG >
+inline void
+createAMGPreconditionerPointer( Op& opA, const double relax, const P& comm, std::unique_ptr< AMG >& amgPtr )
+{
+    // type of matrix
+    typedef typename Op::matrix_type  M;
+
+    // The coupling metric used in the AMG
+    typedef Dune::Amg::FirstDiagonal CouplingMetric;
+
+    // The coupling criterion used in the AMG
+    typedef Dune::Amg::SymmetricCriterion<M, CouplingMetric> CritBase;
+
+    // The coarsening criterion used in the AMG
+    typedef Dune::Amg::CoarsenCriterion<CritBase> Criterion;
+
+    // TODO: revise choice of parameters
+    int coarsenTarget=1200;
+    Criterion criterion(15,coarsenTarget);
+    criterion.setDebugLevel( 0 ); // no debug information, 1 for printing hierarchy information
+    criterion.setDefaultValuesIsotropic(2);
+    criterion.setNoPostSmoothSteps( 1 );
+    criterion.setNoPreSmoothSteps( 1 );
+
+    // for DUNE 2.2 we also need to pass the smoother args
+    typedef typename AMG::Smoother Smoother;
+    typedef typename Dune::Amg::SmootherTraits<Smoother>::Arguments  SmootherArgs;
+    SmootherArgs  smootherArgs;
+    smootherArgs.iterations = 1;
+    smootherArgs.relaxationFactor = relax;
+
+    amgPtr.reset( new AMG(opA, criterion, smootherArgs, comm ) );
+}
+
+} // end namespace ISTLUtility
 
     struct CPRParameter
     {
@@ -348,19 +391,21 @@ createEllipticPreconditionerPointer(const M& Ae, double relax,
             Dune::SolverCategory::sequential:Dune::SolverCategory::overlapping
         };
 
+        typedef ISTLUtility::CPRSelector<M,X,X,P>  CPRSelectorType ;
+
         //! \brief Elliptic Operator
-        typedef typename CPRSelector<M,X,X,P>::Operator Operator;
+        typedef typename CPRSelectorType::Operator Operator;
 
         //! \brief preconditioner for the whole system (here either ILU(0) or ILU(n)
         typedef Dune::Preconditioner<X,X> WholeSystemPreconditioner;
 
         //! \brief type of the unique pointer to the ilu-0 preconditioner
         //! used the for the elliptic system
-        typedef typename CPRSelector<M,X,X,P>::EllipticPreconditionerPointer
+        typedef typename CPRSelectorType::EllipticPreconditionerPointer
         EllipticPreconditionerPointer;
 
         //! \brief amg preconditioner for the elliptic system
-        typedef typename CPRSelector<M,X,X,P>::AMG  AMG;
+        typedef typename CPRSelectorType::AMG  AMG;
 
         /*! \brief Constructor.
 
@@ -382,7 +427,7 @@ createEllipticPreconditionerPointer(const M& Ae, double relax,
               de_( Ae_.N() ),
               ve_( Ae_.M() ),
               dmodified_( A_.N() ),
-              opAe_(CPRSelector<M,X,Y,P>::makeOperator(Ae_, commAe)),
+              opAe_(CPRSelectorType::makeOperator(Ae_, commAe)),
               precond_(), // ilu0 preconditioner for elliptic system
               amg_(),     // amg  preconditioner for elliptic system
               pre_(), // copy A will be made be the preconditioner
@@ -395,10 +440,10 @@ createEllipticPreconditionerPointer(const M& Ae, double relax,
 
             // create the preconditioner for the whole system.
             if( param_.cpr_ilu_n_ == 0 ) {
-                pre_ = createILU0Ptr<M,X>( A_, param_.cpr_relax_, comm_ );
+                pre_ = ISTLUtility::createILU0Ptr<M,X>( A_, param_.cpr_relax_, comm_ );
             }
             else {
-                pre_ = createILUnPtr<M,X>( A_, param_.cpr_ilu_n_, param_.cpr_relax_, comm_ );
+                pre_ = ISTLUtility::createILUnPtr<M,X>( A_, param_.cpr_ilu_n_, param_.cpr_relax_, comm_ );
             }
         }
 
@@ -552,35 +597,11 @@ createEllipticPreconditionerPointer(const M& Ae, double relax,
         {
             if( amg )
             {
-              // The coupling metric used in the AMG
-              typedef Dune::Amg::FirstDiagonal CouplingMetric;
-
-              // The coupling criterion used in the AMG
-              typedef Dune::Amg::SymmetricCriterion<M, CouplingMetric> CritBase;
-
-              // The coarsening criterion used in the AMG
-              typedef Dune::Amg::CoarsenCriterion<CritBase> Criterion;
-
-              // TODO: revise choice of parameters
-              int coarsenTarget=1200;
-              Criterion criterion(15,coarsenTarget);
-              criterion.setDebugLevel( 0 ); // no debug information, 1 for printing hierarchy information
-              criterion.setDefaultValuesIsotropic(2);
-              criterion.setNoPostSmoothSteps( 1 );
-              criterion.setNoPreSmoothSteps( 1 );
-
-              // for DUNE 2.2 we also need to pass the smoother args
-              typedef typename AMG::Smoother Smoother;
-              typedef typename Dune::Amg::SmootherTraits<Smoother>::Arguments  SmootherArgs;
-              SmootherArgs  smootherArgs;
-              smootherArgs.iterations = 1;
-              smootherArgs.relaxationFactor = param_.cpr_relax_;
-
-              amg_ = std::unique_ptr< AMG > (new AMG(*opAe_, criterion, smootherArgs, comm ));
+                ISTLUtility::createAMGPreconditionerPointer( *opAe_ , param_.cpr_relax_, comm, amg_ );
             }
             else
             {
-                precond_ = createEllipticPreconditionerPointer<M,X>( Ae_, param_.cpr_relax_, comm);
+                precond_ = ISTLUtility::createEllipticPreconditionerPointer<M,X>( Ae_, param_.cpr_relax_, comm);
             }
        }
     };