Petrobras Begins Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Output at Chinook

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4), Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, started pumping oil from its Chinook field in the Gulf of Mexico after more than a year of delays because of tighter U.S. regulations and faulty equipment.

Petrobras, the world’s biggest oil producer in waters deeper than 300 meters (984 feet), started on Sept. 6 to produce crude from the Chinook-4 well, the Rio de Janeiro-based company said today in a statement. Chinook is located off the coast of Louisiana at a depth of about 8,000 meters.

Petrobras was relying on output from the 80,000-barrel-a- day Chinook-Cascade project in the Gulf to avoid its first annual production drop since 2004 as offshore discoveries fail to counter aging field declines. The company has encountered delays of more than a year to get equipment and rigs needed to develop the Americas’ largest oil discoveries in three decades.

The producer didn’t say how much oil was pumping from Chinook-4.

Petrobras rose 4.1 percent to close at 22.90 reais in Sao Paulo. The shares are gaining 9 percent this week, heading for their best week since Oct. 28.

To contact the reporter on this story: Carlos Manuel Rodriguez in Mexico City at carlosmr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Attwood at jattwood3@bloomberg.net