For the past month, market chatter had expected the award to go to Subsea 7 over TechnipFMC.Mad Dog 2 is about 190 miles (305 kilometres) south of New Orleans.

The value of the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract is thought to be at the top end of Subsea 7’s stated range of between $300m and $500m, according to analysts at Pareto Securities.

Analysts