Ed - I sympathise with you. I have recently had a couple or three of kaskara arrive in this state.
Might I suggest that oil is your last resort (although I had to go there). The reason is that it will totally transform the colour of the scabbard. If it is rust then gentle tapping and working of the scabbard may loosen this. You have to be patient because any movement will start very small. Depending how old your scabbard is then the inside may be anything from wood to cardboard and this will affect how easy the process is, the softer the inner lining the more difficult it will be to brake it loose. Be careful of tugging down on the top part of the scabbard because if it moves and the sword is stuck in the bottom half does the scabbard will buckle in the middle.
If it does not work dry, then oiling with a syringe as Iain suggested is the next step, but the process then is the same.
If it's not rust then possibly someone has decided to protect the sword by coating it with grease before putting it in the scabbard - in this case the grease dries into the scabbard and forms a very effective glue as the scabbard dries. I have had two of these and both times I needed to soak the scabbard in oil to release the grease. Not all oil is good for this, use acid-free oil. I'm not sure about WD40 and leather. Its acid free but I don't trust it on leather.
Best of luck!
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