They work, they invest, they put their heads to the task, they apply technology, and pretty soon they'll discover how to extract oil profitably from oil sand.
That would apply not only to a huge number of geothermal sites, but also to many oil wells, which often bring up warm water from great depths along with their more valuable output.
That means the state-owned oil companies and large companies operating in the region either need to find new fields and basins or apply new technology to get more out of established ones.