Whereas most big western firms such as Mobil and Esso are expert at finding crude oil, extracting it from the ground, turning it into petrol and then selling it, Japanese firms tend merely to refine the stuff and sell it.
"Definitely there will be more opportunities for Western companies, " says Kevin Tu, a China energy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.
Director James Mangold's expert and entertaining "3:10 to Yuma" demonstrates both the Western's age-old appeal, and the problems it presents to a contemporary filmmaker.