Production has started at the Chinook field connected to the FPSO BW Pioneer platform located approximately 250 km (155 miles) off the coast of Louisiana in the US Gulf of Mexico (GoM), Petrobras announced.

This is the first FPSO to produce oil and gas in the GoM, according to Petrobras. It is capable of processing 80,000 bbl of oil and 500,000 cu m of gas per day, and storing 500,000 bbl of oil. This vessel platform is moored at a world-record water depth of 2,500 m (8,202 ft).

The Chinook #4 production well was drilled and completed in Lower Tertiary reservoirs (formed between 23 million and 65 million years ago), an offshore exploration frontier located at a depth of about 8,000 m (26,246 ft) in the GoM. This well is connected to the vessel platform by means of a system composed of subsea equipment and lines, in addition to free-standing risers (vertical production lines). Oil will be transported to land on shuttle tankers, and gas through pipelines.

Petrobras is the first company to develop an oilfield in the GoM using these technologies, which are applied in Brazil, according to a news release.

Chinook is owned by Petrobras (66.67%) in partnership with Total Exploration Production USA, Inc. (33.33%).