Pemex has assigned the contract to Dragados, according to a document seen by Upstream. However, the oil company has yet to officially award the Spanish contractor one of Mexico’s most important contracts this decade.

Sources confirmed that Dragados was in pole position to win the award with its bid of $449 million having come out just ahead of McDermott’s rival offer of $452 million, making the contest one of the closest — and most heated — in the Mexican offshore in years.

“(Dragados)