What about the employees that worked for the company that drilled the well? The company that provided the fluids, the company that fracked the well?

There's tons in the oil industry besides the man that is selling the oil.

If you look outside of the oil industry, what about the hotel owner that will now have empty rooms?

The restaurants that will now have more empty tables.

People will move out of town and grocery stores will have less shoppers.

Less oilfield workers working will mean less home remodels for carpenters.

More houses on the market, fewer new houses being built.

Less concrete work, less plumbing work, less electrical work, etc.

If you are a doctor you will probably have fewer patients as workers move out of town, or don't go to the doctor for less serious issues now that money is tight.

I don't care what you do, if you live in West Texas there's about a 90% chance that your work will be negatively affected by a plummet in oil prices.

The same will be true for Louisiana. Big cities that have pharmaceutical plants and such won't be hit as hard, but the far majority will feel the effects.

Its easier to fill up your boat at $4.00/gallon when you're working than it is at $1.50/gallon when you are not working.

That being said, I think their can be a healthy compromise. With the wells that are producing in the Bakken and in the Eagleford, I would be surprised to see oil hit $100/bbl again. I think it will SLOWLY rise back to $80/bbl and remain pretty close to there.

NO, WE ARE SAVING $100,000 OR MORE BECAUSE ITS $1.50 A GALLON CHEAPER THAN WHAT IT HAS BEEN FOR 8+ YEARS.

The lower gas prices have easily increased my disposable income $400 a month. I am just now realizing how much I've missed it over the last 8 yrs. I hate to see anyone unemployed but I also feel the oil industry has been running a little fat at my expense for quite a while.

The oil industry is a "boom" and "bust" industry, always has been for the people who actually do the work.

The key is while you are making $100-200k a year busting your butt, put some back, the bust is coming, always does for the workers. The fat cats are still making their's one way or other...

I understand what you are saying, but after the company that pumps the oil out of the ground gets paid kess, everyone else in the process of making gasoline makes the same as they were making before. $40/barrel oil doesn't cost more or less to refine than $120/barrel oil, it's not more expensive to ship (less actually since fuel is less)and the station operators are still making their same % as before. They still have to pump the stuff out of the ground,refine it and ship it, so why should people in the industry lose jobs? I'm sure there are reasons, I just don't know.

I hate to see anyone loose their job. On the other hand I own and operate a communications company that has over 10 vehicles filling up an average of twice a week. If prices stay under $2.00 were looking at approx. 30-40k annual savings. I can't complain about the opportunity to have a good year.

Actually what is happening right now with oil should have taken place 4 or 5 years ago. The market has had a glut for that long. OPEC artificially inflated the prices and why I don't know. The good thing about our situation in this country is if inventories start to correct and drop and OPEC tries to jack the prices again we crank up our drilling and production and pull back on the price........

Amen

Sure helps big truck sales too when the fuel prices go down. Operating cost go way down allowing for companies to update their fleet. We are experiencing higher than expected orders and are continuing to hire and try to keep up with orders.


My wife works for a oil company and it cost her some of her bonus, but I'm getting more ot at my employer so it kind of event out. I know I am enjoying the lower prices at the pump. With a buck off a gallon at kroger I have been pumping gas for less than I ever have

Everybody giving praise about gas prices,well bs. IN 1978-1980 oil prices were @38-42 dollars a barrel and gas was @ .65-.75 cents a gallon. So if gas could be made for that then why not now!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guess what I'm trying to say is that the big money makers arte to stay exactly that. BIG MONEY MAKERS!!!! I also worked on the oilfield and know how this works.

I'm not saying high gas prices are good for everyone. Not saying I want to see gas hit $4.00/gallon either. Just saying it affects more people than those simply pumping the oil out of the ground and selling it.

The operators aren't going to continue to drill the same number of wells with prices where they are now. The NAM rig count is projected to be 50% of what it was in 2014 before the price decrease.

When the rigs lay down, roughnecks are out of work. The cementing companies that would normally cement the well is out of work. The frack company that normally fracks the well sees a decrease in work. The chemical companies that normally provide the fluids, will see less work.

Now you have excess horsepower and personnel, so the operators get to nickel and dime everyone to cut costs so that the service companies are now doing less work with lower margins and the chemical companies are selling less chemical with lower margins.

With many of these people out of work, they won't hang around in an area that revolves around the oilfield. Because of this, hotel rooms will now be empty, along with restaurants, etc.

It affects more than the man working in the oilfield. I know it doesn't affect everyone, especially if you are closer to bigger cities such as DFW and Houston that have other industries. But West Texas revolves around the oil industry. More people than the operator will feel the effects.

I also don't buy that they aren't making money at $40/bbl. They may not pay for the well as quickly as they would like, but they will eventually make a profit. But it doesn't matter what we believe.

If you have something that you believe you can sell for $80/bbl in 1 year, why would you sell it for $40/bbl today? So they just aren't going to continue drilling as many wells, and thousands will be out of work.

As far as someone else mentioning $40/bbl oil and less than $1.00/gallon gas, what wages were roughnecks making then and what wages are they making today? What was the value of a dollar then vs. today? What was the price of iron then vs. today? In addition, those were probably shallow vertical wells getting out all of the "easy" oil.


But to be honest, with all the wells drilled in the Eagleford producing 2,000 bbls oil/day over the last 4 years, I'm surprised its taken this long to drop.

The petrol industry has always operated in boom and bust cycles.
Jobs in that industry come and they go.
Bonus payments come and they go.

The effects always ripple through the economy.

It's all cyclical, but the real kicker is that those cycles are controlled and the peaks/valleys are intentional.

It's also important for one to understand the deal that Henry Kissinger made with the Saudi Arabians in the 70's.

Some professions are simply cyclical. If you choose to take the path of a profession that falls into this category and do not educate yourself on the financial risks, I don't know what to tell you.

I am in the sub prime auto lending industry and it falls into the cyclical category. I'm not gonna cry when times are bad, nor am I gonna gloat when they are good.

I've seen both sides.

Bigger fish to fry.

I understand the point you're trying to make but we can make a laundry list just as long of the direct benefits to the economy from the savings that people are enjoying across this country.

Let's just enjoy it while it lasts...

Well he is wrong on that. There is no reason gas should be as high as it was that is ridiculous about like it is now 1.80 to 2.00 is fine are they going to make billions and billions no are the greedy SOB's making money hell yes. Its all greed period end of story.