A joint venture comprised of US-based McDermott International and ­Italy’s GE is tipped to be awarded an important integrated subsea contract by UK independent Ophir Energy for its Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas project off Equatorial Guinea.

McDermott-GE is believed to hold the edge over a group composed of Subsea 7 and Aker Solutions, its only rival for the job, ­after a long-running design competition.

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