White nights, black gold: Russia’s oil riches come to light

Your Russian oil and gas may as well have come from space – the people who produce it talk of ‘returning to earth’ when they leave its remote Siberian source.

Starting 1,400 kilometres northeast of Moscow and reaching far into the Arctic, the vast Yamalo-Nenetsky autonomous district is a leading centre of the national oil industry.

In this sprawling wilderness of swamps, rivers and frost-stunted pine forests, Russian companies frantically work to bring the so-called black gold to hungry western markets and capitalize on record world prices.

Even in summer the permafrost ice starts just 1.5 metres below the surface. In the autumn, the town digs the anticipated number of graves at the cemetery before winter locks the soil like concrete.

Vehicles travel in threes to the oil fields 50 kilometres away, each half-full in case of a breakdown. In minus 60 degrees a spanner can simply snap in two and being stranded simply is not an option.

Monsters and Critics