Sep. 2012 - Petrobras has started production at its Chinook field in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The Chinook #4 well was drilled and completed in Lower Tertiary reservoirs. Production from Chinook is processed by the BW Pioneer - the first FPSO to operate in U.S. waters.

Jun. 2012 - Petrobras reported that a "small leak" of hydraulic fluid was detected during commissioning of a submarine system Sunday at its Chinook field in the GOM. Petrobras did not disclose the volume of the fluid that leaked. The company has notified U.S. officials of the leak, as well as set up an internal commission to evaluate the cause of the incident, reported Dow Jones Newswires. The field is still being developed with first production slated for later this year.

Mar. 2012 - Petrobras reported that on Feb. 25, 2012, it commenced production at the Cascade field through the Cascade No. 4 well, which was interconnected to the BW Pioneer FPSO. The Cascade 4 production well was drilled and completed in reservoirs of the Lower Tertiary geological period, which is a promising exploratory maritime boundary of the Gulf of Mexico, at a vertical depth of around 26,247 feet (8,000 meters). The BW Pioneer is the first FPSO to produce oil and gas in the U.S. portion of the Gulf of Mexico, and has the capacity to process 80,000 barrels of oil and 500 Mcm/d.

Mar. 2011 - The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement has provided the final approval necessary for Petrobras to start oil and natural gas production at its Chinook-Cascade project using an FPSO, making it the first time an FPSO will be used in the Gulf of Mexico. BOEMRE has also approved the project’s production safety system permit and supplemental deepwater operating plan to ensure that stringent safety regulations were met. The B.W. Pioneer FPSO has a production capacity of 80,000 bopd and 16 MMcf/d of natural gas. With the completion of this final regulatory step, production from the project is expected to commence soon. The Cascade-Chinook oil and natural gas project is located about 154 miles offshore Louisiana in 8,200 feet (2,499 meters) of water. The FPSO will store the crude oil in tanks located in the facility's hull, and offload the crude to shuttle tankers for transportation to shore. Natural gas processed by the facility will be transported to shore by pipeline. Petrobras operates the project.

Aug. 2010 - Technip, with support by its contractor Jumbo Offshore, have completed the installation of five freestanding hybrid risers for the Cascade & Chinook ultra-deepwater project in the Gulf of Mexico. Installation of the risers, lead by Technip, was performed by construction vessels Deep Blue and Deep Pioneer, together with the Fairplayer. The Chinook field – in Walker Ridge Blocks 469 and 452 – is located in the outer continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico. Cascade is located on Walker Ridge Blocks 205, 206, 249 and 250, in a water depth of 8,200 feet (2,499 meters).

Mar. 2010 - Oil production from the Cascade/Chinook development is expected to commence in mid-2010, reiterated Petrobras Chief Executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli. The Chinook FPSO should come online in June or July 2010. The joint development is located in the Gulf of Mexico in waters measuring 8,202 to 8,825 feet (2,500 to 2,690 meters). Petrobras operates the project.

Jan. 2010 - Petrobras confirmed that it has exercised its preferential right to acquire Devon Energy's 50% stake in Cascade. The settlement of the acquisition should occur within 60 days and then Petrobras will wholly own and operate the Cascade field. Cascade will produce to the first operated FPSO -- BW Pioneer -- in the Gulf of Mexico, which is expected to come online in mid-2010. In December, Maersk Oil entered into an agreement with Devon Energy to acquire their 50% interest in the Petrobras-operated Cascade field along with Devon's 25% stakes in two other Gulf of Mexico assets, Jack and St. Malo. Negotiations are continuing with Devon and Maersk about Jack and other assets in the Gulf of Mexico. Located on Walker Ridge Blocks 205, 206, 249 and 250, the Cascade gas and condensate field is situated in a water depth of 8,200 feet (2,499 meters).

Jan. 2010 - While the full details have yet to be released, news wire reports indicate Devon's partners in two ultra-deepwater oil discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico (Cascade and St. Malo) have exercised their preferential purchase rights, edging out Maersk Oil's run at the assets. In December, Maersk Oil entered into an agreement with Devon Energy to acquire their 50% interest in the Petrobras operated, Cascade field along with Devon's 25% stakes in two other Gulf of Mexico assets, Jack and St. Malo. Negotiations are continuing with Devon and Maersk about Jack and other assets in the Gulf of Mexico. Petrobras, Devon's partner in Cascade, confirmed that it is buying the stake. Chevron operates St. Malo, and other partners in St. Malo include Petrobras, Statoil, ExxonMobil and ENI.

Dec. 2009 - Maersk Oil has entered into an agreement to acquire Devon Energy's 50% interest in the Petrobras operated, Cascade field along with Devon's interests in two other Gulf of Mexico assets, Jack and St. Malo. Maersk will pay Devon a total cash consideration of $1.3 billion for all three assets. Cascade is located in water depths of 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) and covers Walker Ridge Blocks 205, 206, 249 and 250. Cascade is a joint development with the Chinook field and will include an APL disconnectable Submerged Turret Production Buoy (STP) with fluid swivel and the appurtenant mooring system. The BW Pioneer FPSO was selected for the job and is expected to be delivered in early-2010.

Nov. 2009 - In late November the West Sirius semisub moved onto Petrobras' Cascade field to drill an appraisal well in Walker Ridge Block 250. Cascade and Chinook are being developed jointly and will be tied-back to the BW Pioneer FPSO which will be located in Walker Ridge Block 469. The FPSO is slated to depart Singapore by the end of the year and arrive in the Gulf of Mexico in early 2010.

Nov. 2009 - Transocean's Discoverer Deep Seas drillship is scheduled to drill a development well at Petrobras' Chinook development field. The development well No. 2 on Walker Ridge Block 469 is expected to be drilled late November 2009. Chinook is being jointly developed with the Cascade discovery and will be tied-back to the BW Pioneer FPSO, which is currently under construction in Singapore and is expected to be delivered in early 2010.

Oct. 2009 - Petrobras is set to operate the first FPSO in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The newly christened vessel will be located on the Chinook area, consisting of two gas and condensate fields, Chinook and Cascade, located in the Gulf of Mexico, tied-back to the Chinook FPSO. The FPSO is currently scheduled to mobilize from Singapore in December 2009 and arrive on location early in 2010.

Oct. 2009 - Keppel Shipyard recently disclosed that the expected delivery of the BW Pioneer, an FPSO vessel destined for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, remains on track with production expected to commence in 1Q10. Ordered by BW Pioneer Ltd., an affiliate of BW Offshore, the unit will be turret moored at a water depth of around 8,500 ft. (2,600 m). The unit has been contracted by Petrobras for operations in the Cascade and Chinook fields.

Sep. 2009 - Petrobras sublet the Discoverer Deep Seas drillship for one well beginning late September/early October and will drill a well on Walker Ridge Block 469. The Chinook field is currently under development. The MMS approved Petrobras' Mono-Column Floater, Production, Storage and Offloading Unit concept design for the next phase of development. Petrobras is the operator and holds a 66.67% interest.

Aug. 2009 - Veolia signed a contract with Petrobras to provide marine services in the Gulf of Mexico. The Viking Poseidon, one of VES' deepwater marine vessels, will be deployed for work on Petrobras' Chinook/Cascade subsea development, one of the deepest FPSO facilities in the world. The vessel will support new field development for phase one of Petrobras's FPSO. The one-year contract includes a substantial amount of subsea engineering and project management across four in-field campaigns. While in the field, the Viking Poseidon will provide offshore construction and installation, including flying leads and jumper installations, work that is critical prior to production from the field. Engineering and pre-field work has already begun and the Viking Poseidon will enter the field on September 15, 2009, to begin the first campaign.

May. 2009 - Class society ABS has provided its basic design approval for Petrobras' Mono-Column Floater, Production, Storage and Offloading Unit (MPSO) intended for ultra deepwater operation in the GOM. The approval is significant as it consolidates the MPSO design concept as one viable option for the next phase of the Cascade Chinook field in the GOM. The MPSO is a short cylindrical mono-column floater that is also being considered for sites offshore Brazil.

Mar. 2009 - Petrobras will drill two development wells at its Cascade and Chinook deepwater fields, located 180 miles (290 kilometers) south of Louisiana on the Walker Ridge area in the Gulf of Mexico. The two planned development wells, in addition to another well currently being drilled in Cascade, are expected to commence production in mid-2010.

Feb. 2009 - BMT Scientific Marine Services Inc. has chosen Sonardyne International to supply an integrated acoustic positioning and telemetry system for Petrobras America's Gulf of Mexico Cascade Chinook field. The system forms part of an extensive life-of-field integrity monitoring system for five Free Standing Hybrid Risers (FSHRs).

Feb. 2009 - Diamond Offshore's Ocean Endeavor has completed drilling on Devon's Cascade field, Walker Ridge Block 249 #1 appraisal well.

Jan. 2009 - Advanced Production and Loading (APL) AS has awarded subsea mooring specialist, First Subsea, a contract to supply mooring connections for a disconnectable Submerged Turret Production (STP) Buoy in the Chinook Cascade field in the Gulf of Mexico. Moored in 2,500 meters of water, the project will be the deepest application for a STP buoy supplied by APL so far.

Dec. 2008 - Cabot Corporation's Aerogel business today announced that its patented and patent-pending Nanogel(R) aerogel Compression Pack(TM) product has been selected by Pipeline Technique, Ltd. (PTL) and Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC), to insulate a 39-km subsea pipeline in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The pipeline will be part of the Cascade-Chinook development project in Walker Ridge Block #425 of the Gulf of Mexico, operated by Petrobras America Inc, a subsidiary of Petrobras.

Nov. 2008 - Proserve has been awarded a contract by Advance Production & Loading for design, manufacturing and supply of a Chemical Distribution Panel that is intended for the turret system of the Cascade and Chinook FPSO. The project has a fixed duration of 10 years with option for a further five years. Proserv will deliver the distribution panel in the beginning of next year and start-up for the project is planned in March.

Apr. 2008 - The MMS has approved development plans for the Cascade-Chinook oil and natural gas project which will involve the first use in the Gulf of an FPSO.

Jan. 2008 - Technip has been awarded two major contracts by Petrobras America, a subsidiary of Petrobras, worth a total of over USD 300 million, for the development of the Cascade and Chinook gas fields, located in the Walker Ridge area of the Gulf of Mexico, in 8,200 and 8,800 feet of water, respectively.

Oct. 2007 - OSG will provide shuttle tanker services from a Floating Production Storage and Offloading facility, or FPSO, at the Chinook and Cascade ultra-deepwater fields in the Walker Ridge area of the Gulf of Mexico. Ultra-deepwater discoveries are located in water at least 8,000 feet deep and require an additional 15,000 feet of drilling beneath the ocean floor. FPSOs and shuttle tankers are a cost-effective means of transporting offshore oil where pipeline infrastructure is too costly or technologically not feasible to construct. This will be the first FPSO and shuttle tanker project in U.S. waters.

Jun. 2007 - BHP has made an oil discovery at its second exploratory well on the Chinook prospect. Drilled in water depths of approximately 8,830 feet, the well exceeded a total depth of 27,650 feet, encountering a gross hydrocarbon column of 620 feet with 260 feet of net oil pay.