A Gusher For Big Oil Is Drying Up

It’s a new world for oil companies, as Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), and others are learning the hard way in Russia. In the mid-1990s, the country was in economic turmoil. So the Kremlin agreed to advantageous deals for Western oil majors, which agreed to use their capital and technology to expand oil and gas production into new areas, particularly the icy waters off Sakhalin Island in Asia.

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