Ophir Energy said on 9 July that it has awarded upstream front-end engineering and design (FEED) contracts for the Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project in Block R to two contractor consortia. The company says it is considering a second FLNG vessel on the development, while still looking to bring in a farm-in partner before its planned final investment decision (FID) in mid-2016.The upstream FEED contract, awarded to McDermott Marine Construction Ltd with GE Oil & Gas UK Ltd, and Subsea 7 with Aker Solutions, will be a competitive process, with the scope of work including subsea development design.