The Arctic rig at the centre of a protest which has seen Greenpeace activists charged with piracy is due to begin production this year, its operator has confirmed.
The Prirazlomnaya rig, which Greenpeace activists tried to board last month in protest over the dangers of possible oil spills, is set to produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day once at peak output.
Gazprom, which operates the Barents Sea platform, said the rig was on track to begin operations.
“As was envisaged, production is expected to start by the year-end,” the company told Reuters.
Two activists – Sini Saarela and Mario Weber – tried to scale the rig on September 18, sparking an armed intervention by Russian coastguards.
A day later Russian forces seized the Greenpeace boat Arctic Sunrise and towed it to Murmansk, where the 30 crewmembers were arrested.
Russian authorities now charged all 30 with piracy – which carries a 15 year jail term.