Gazprom Neft will suspend oil extraction at the Prirazlomnoye oil field during the three summer months to upgrade equipment, the company's Board Chairman Alexander Dyukov told RIA Novosti.

"Extraction [at Prirazlomnoye oil field] will cease for three months to upgrade the platform, which will improve its performance," Dyukov said. He said the upgrades would be conducted in the summer and primarily by American companies.

The oil field's production in 2017 will total 2.5-2.6 million metric tons (compared to 2.1 million metric tons in 2016) despite the three month suspension, Dyukov added.

The Prirazlomnoye oil field is the sight of the first and only petroleum production project on the Russian Arctic shelf. Commercial development of the field was launched in December 2013. Since then, over 10 million barrels of oil have been transported to Europe, according to RIA Novosti. The field's recoverable oil reserves are estimated at over 70 million metric tons.