Crude oil is $86 today.... beginning of the end?

Feel free to double the mileage, it still won't amount to a hill of beans when compared to the benefits and opportunities offered by a prosperous economy. Does a family benefit more from an extra $1K in fuel savings or from an extra $20K because they seized an opportunity and got a better job?

As for the angry emotional responses..... would you rather be the pot or the kettle?

 

I am hauling oil and they already cut our pay. I am waiting to see what is going to happen. I have 3 month window in my head too.

 

We haven't had our pay cut yet but veteran drivers in my yard have seen it in the past. Living expenses around here will be the last to drop, so cutting pay could just push drivers out the door even faster.

 

I blame the President for the low fuel prices!!!!

 

I don't feel safe on this forum any more with all this bickering and name calling. Now gathering my toys out of the sandbox and going home....

In all seriousness there are only two things you can count on in the oilfield, it's gonna boom and it's gonna bust. As a person who was here in W. Texas in 08' I can say that the current economic climate is almost exactly as it was then too. No
one knows when it will bust or when it will boom, the only thing you should know is that this industry is well known for it's feast and famine periods. Hence why you should always prepare for a rainy day, as well as try to do a job on a side of the industry that will not be as effected. A man who bragged to me about making 130k/yr six months ago moving rigs now is barley working 40hrs every two weeks. You never know when or where hard times are going to strike but you should know they could come any time.

Proverbs 27:12

"prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished."

I am not a bible thumper just a run of the mill Christian, however these words we all should heed, not just those in our industry.

My 2 cents, rant over.

 

That's true, yet this should be attached.

Mt 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Many Americans feels happiness comes only from money and being able to buy their wants, yet true happiness only come from storing up treasures in Heaven, while denying their self and bearing their cross while following Jesus, Matthew 16:24.

 

I completely agree. Many people have come out to this industry with dollar signs in their eyes and goals in place, my self included. Then you start earning those dollars and it is very easy to fall into the mentality of "needing" that new pickup, 65" Plasma, new living room set ect. I have been guilty of this as well. It took me many years of growth and reflection and faith to understand what is important.

Just to be clear, the purpose of my post what not to bash anyone or speak to what I do or do not know. It was to say that oil & gas industry is very blessed with high wages in all facets. The average income for males in W. Texas is 70k/yr. and I am thankful that I am quite a bit above average. However, it is wise not to become reliant on those 70, 80 90 hour weeks. Many family's get by on much less than that not only in this country but around the world. It is not what you make, it's what you spend.

I threw my Proverbs in there just as my own point in reference for my own life and I enjoying sharing my faith when the opportunity presents itself, because The Lord truly is good.

Psalm 136:1
give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Over and out

 

It's ok if that's what you want to do but I personally will not be denying myself in this one and only life. I can't imagine denying myself and in the end all I get is a long dirt nap.

 

One of the reasons the Royal Family of Saud can control the crude oil market, is the US does NOT export crude oil, due to federal regulations, except for a very limited amount from a small area.... Until November of 2014, the US could not export natural gas.

The current economy has had one sector of growth, while all other are down, or barely growing. Having lower crude oil prices, will decimate the ONLY sector of the economy that is growing... that will lead to a long and nasty recession, and maybe even a depression. Every dollar spent in the local economy by oilfield workers ripples through that economy 7 times... now think about those 7 other people who will be saving less than $1,000 a year due to lower fuel cost, but only be working 20 hours a week, because nobody is buying goods and services.

On the junk bond market, that was no way a positive, but a warning, for the coming banking collapse, as the junk bonds ripple through the banking industry, as companies that are heavily leveraged default, and can not find other sources of financing. The housing collapse and associated bank collapse was caused by only a 15% market presence in the junk bond market.

Oh but every us citizen does benefit from US crude and natural gas...Transportation costs are NOT down, as companies that have been loosing money, or just hanging on, do not lower the price, so become solvent. Every time that high paid oilfield worker, all the way up to the executives, buy a house, buy a car, or truck, buy food, they benefit the rest of the people in the USA. The dollars stay here, and are turned over and over again and again. That mother has the opportunity for a promotion as the company she works for expands to satisfy the demand caused by the high paying oil fields. The ENTIRE nation is raised up, it is not a zero sum game, but an ever expanding pie....

The Royal Family is trying and succeeding in increasing their slice of that pie, and the US oil and gas industry is strangled by the federal legislation form the 70's that do NOT allow us to compete on the world market. NO EXPORTS.

I am not unhappy or happy with the Royal Family, I am unhappy with our own federal government, and the regulatory strangle hold they have on the Oil and gas industry, that limits and restricts our ability to counter the Royal Family.

Yes there is a short term benefit to the working parents from lower fuel prices, until those lower fuel prices cost those high paying jobs, that purchase the goods and services of the working parents, and those working parents hours are cut, or they become jobless. And the total pie shrinks, and everyone suffers.

Now if the economy was in a growing state, across numerous sectors, then this price manipulation would not have the coming impact it will... unfortunately, that is not the case... and the reasons for the lack of economic growth is not a discussion for this thread.

 

Opposing economists Peter Schiff and Paul Krugman are in agreement that when oil prices are low enough to damage the US oil/gas industry, a contraction rather than an expansion of our current domestic economy will result.

The country that has surplus production capacity becomes the swing producer and controls price. The Texas Railroad Commission was the swing producer for 40 years with Rockefeller/Standard Oil holding the title before that. Saudi Arabia's refusal to cut production resulted in the loss of their power as the swing producer. The technological explosion of fracking shale in the USA has created a surplus of production capacity, which would allow us to become the swing producer once again; however, the inability to reach the international market by exporting our crude denies us our power to fulfill this opportunity.