Satellite imagery taken on 09/09/2014 showing the West Alpha drilling platform in the Kara sea above the Arctic circle. The platform is operated jointly between ExxonMobil and Rosneft, a Russian state owned energy firm. Media reports now suggest that the $600m project has been halted in response to sanctions imposed by US and European governments. In March this year Greenpeace protested the planned drilling of the West Alpha whilst the platform was moored in Olen, Norway.