Oil gained above $71 a barrel in New York as Tropical Storm Gordon forced evacuations at fields along the U.S. Gulf Coast and threatened supply.

WASHINGTON — Oil and gas executives have watched wearily in recent years as the relationship between the United States and Russia deteriorated, steadily closing off their ability to drill the vast shale plays underlying Siberia and the deep-water oil fields off Russia’s Arctic coast.

The dark storm clouds that have been hanging over the oil industry during the crude-price slump have suddenly started raining cash.

Oil prices declined for the week of July 3, as expanded U.S. drilling activity and added production offset a larger-than-expected drop in stockpiles.