Same translation again...

[quem98.livejournal.com]

Ok.. This doesn't make sense..

Более-менее лакомые куски этих запасов (к примеру, на сахалинском шельфе), уже разобраны, причем западными компаниями, но и они никак не компенсируют западно-сибирских, и уж тем более не могут обеспечить прироста добычи сверх высшей точки.

How the hell do you translate лакомые in this context? My dictionary said "dainty and tasty". Since when are oil deposits tasty? Can I translate this sentance as such?

More or less the best parts of these resources (for example, on the Sakhalin shelf) are already being worked, moreover by by Western companies, but there is no way they can compensate for the Western Siberian source, and furthermore, they can’t guarantee growth of output over the highest point.

Comments

[yers.livejournal.com]

Лакомые куски is an idiom, meaning the best or most attractive parts of something. It's a somewhat uncouth rhetorical cliche that I'd love people to stop using.

[noser.livejournal.com]

"лакомый кусок" is an idiom. Not being a native English speaker, I can't find an equivalent in my memory right away. Try to look it up in an idiom dictionary. It means the best part of something, the part that makes you drool.

разобраны -> "claimed" or "taken"

обеспечить should be "provide" rather than "guarantee" in this context.

[cema.livejournal.com]

Delicious, delectable.

Лакомый кусочек is a fixed phrase, meaning best parts.

[quem98.livejournal.com]

Ok. good to know.

[simonff.livejournal.com]

The closest idiom is, I think, "choice bits".

[quem98.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I really need to find a dictionary of Russian idioms one of these days.

[nadyezhda.livejournal.com]

Perhaps referring to sweet crude?