Imagine a source of inestimable wealth that is yours for the taking . . . if you can reach it beneath miles of ocean in one of the harshest climates in the world. On Sakhalin Island in Russia, companies are drilling in Siberia′s freezing waters to get to massive reserves of oil and natural gas. A project like this requires construction that is both big and smart. The drilling platforms, built in South Korea at Samsung Heavy Industries for Sakhalin, are some of the largest ever constructed. They are also enclosed—they have to be to protect workers from the punitive climate of Siberia—but enclosure can be dangerous where fumes can build up and increase the risk of explosion. And the tricky drilling platforms are just the start: there′s also a massive facility including hundreds of miles of pipes, and enormous liquid natural gas storage tanks. These people are betting on the wealth beneath the sea, and they′re going all in.
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