Petronius is a deepwater compliant tower oil platform built from 1997 to 2000[1] and operated by Chevron in the Gulf of Mexico, 210 km (130.5 mi) southeast of New Orleans, United States.
A compliant piled tower design, it is 640 metres (2,100 ft) high[1] to the tip of flare boom from the mudline (sea floor) and was arguably the tallest free-standing structure in the world, until surpassed by the Burj Khalifa in 2010.
The compliant tower weighs around 43,000 tons with the topside weighing in at an additional 7,500 tons[2] Around 9,600 m3 (60,000 barrels) of oil and 3,000,000 m3 (100 million cubic feet) of natural gas are extracted daily by the platform.
The compliant tower design is more flexible than conventional land structures to cope better with sea forces.
Most buildings are kept to within 0.5% of height in order to have occupants not feel uneasy during periods of movement.