FPSO leasing specialist BW Offshore has signed a five-year contract for the lease and operation of the BW Pioneer FPSO on the Cascade and Chinook fields in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The contract was signed with MP Gulf of Mexico, am 80/20 partnership with Murphy Oil and Petrobras. Petrobras and Murphy created their Gulf of Mexico JV in the fourth quarter of 2018, by contributing all of their Gulf of Mexico assets.

The firm five-year period for the BW Pioneer FPSO starts in direct continuation of the current contract and lasts until March 2025, with options to further extend the contract.

“We are very pleased to have reached a long-term agreement with MP GOM for the BW Pioneer, confirming our strong relationship with MP GOM on the Cascade and Chinook fields”, said Marco Beenen, the CEO of BW Offshore.

The FPSO BW Pioneer started work on the Cascade Chinook oil and gas fields for Petrobras in the US Gulf of Mexico in February 2012. The BW Pioneer unit was the first FPSO to produce oil and gas in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. 

The FPSO has a disconnectable mooring system that allows moving to sheltered areas during hurricanes and storms.