Sunk Cost Dilemma

See: Sunk Cost.

Yes, it's a dilemma when you've spent $100 million on oil rigs in that newly formed country somewhere south of Russia. But guess what: the government you thought was in power...isn't in power anymore. And the new regime is green-only. They don't do oil. Even though they have massive reserves, they won't drill. Their national mascot: the polar bear.

So you're out of luck. That $100 million you put in the ground is now gone, gone, gonezo. You can try to rescue it, sell it for scrap on eBay, or just let it go, write it off, and move on; it's a sunk cost. Those costs are...sunk. Like most of the polar bears.