The platform operated by Arctic oil subsidiary Gazprom Neft Shelf, which is the first of its kind in the RussianArctic, made headlines in recent months as the scene of the protest of theso-called ‘Arctic 30’ Greenpeace activists.

"Gazprom has begun oil production at the Prirazlomnoyedeposit," the company said in a brief statement on the field, which is situated 60 kilometres off northern Russia in the Pechora Sea.