Gasoline prices, Oil by the barrel and employment

I wanted to shed light on the 'pump', cost per barrel and how this is effectively impacting employment (at least in my back yard) and jobs.

With oil at (seemingly) an all time low, 30.00 ish a barrel we are seeing prices as low as 1.39 per gallon. I can fill my SUV up for 36.oo. A year and a half ago it cost me 80.00.

While I am all for less cash at the pump, many of my colleagues are not fairing so well. So far in the last 9 months, 5 of my colleagues in petroleum have been laid off, as many more demoted.

I know the petroleum industry goes up and down just like the stock market. I am interested in hearing from others, thier geographical location and how/if the oil industry is affecting their day to day operations.

Analysts have said prices will fall to $25, $20 or even as low as $10 a barrel in the coming months.

source

a reply to: ReadLeader

Nothing directly affecting me here in the Northeast other than the reduced price at the pump means less money on gas and more money for other things such as dining out, etc.

My counterpart who manages the Midwest has reported that the Dakotas and surrounding areas have slowed noticeably since a year ago. We work for a company that sells to both commercial/industrial and residential and it would be an across the board decline in that area.

My oldest son works in the oilfields of Texas and he tells me his job is "iffy". He's been laid off 3 times and lucky for him, he can go to another company for work. He's a directional driller, so his skills let him get a job easier than someone who works the deck, but even with that, jobs are few and far between if he gets laid off. I like low gas prices, but I hate the impact it's having on him.

a reply to: ReadLeader

Working in Calgary, testing control systems for well stimulation technology. The company I work for is 1/3 the size it was a year ago. I was on the chopping block too, but had a last minute reprieve.

The news keeps getting worse. You can try optimism, but that doesn't make you any younger or any more competitive in a saturated tech market. Optimism is sometimes a non-renewable resource. We need better well-stimulation techniques for that.

a reply to: CrikeyMagnet

A suite mate of mine is a petroleum engineer & was laid off 6 months ago. Submitted close to 60 resumes without one response. They are returning to College for yet ANOTHER of already a BA & masters degree....

Working in Aberdeen, Scotland (the oil capital of Europe) we are seeing a strong approach with regards the current market. We cannot complete financially with costs overseas and subsequently many projects are being lost at the bidding stage. Many existing projects are being deferred (shelved) as our customers do not know what to do with the equipment. Reduced income and being unable to meet quarter targets has led to tens of thousands of jobs being lost in this city alone. I have lost many of my peers recently because of the cuts and we are expecting another wave of cuts before Q2. People who are losing their jobs are also struggling to find work because of their trade and lack of employment, in many cases companies have implemented an employment freeze. My closest friend lost his job in December, with hindsight was able to begin applying for work in October last year. He is a skilled machinist and nobody has replied to his CV to date, because there is no demand. More cuts are coming and our hands are tied.

Up in the NE of Scotland Oil & Gas literally dominate the market in employment so there are a lot of people sitting at home twiddling their thumbs. Many homes are put up for sale or for rent and young families are back living with parents because they cannot afford to live in their own homes.

A disaster.

It sucks but it's their problem, there's a reason that you can get paid a couple hundred thousand a year with no marketable skills, because the market is volatile. I have a half a dozen friends that frac and they burn through money like there's no tomorrow.

a reply to: ReadLeader

Are you still in Highschool?

"With oil at (seemingly) an all time low,"

Late 90's saw oil @ or just below $10/barrel.

Late 60's saw oil @ and below $3/barrel.

a reply to: KEACHI

Ughhhmmm. No, I am however a freshman in college. Nevertheless, Thanks for your useful collaboration on the topic, and more so thank you for effectively contributing to this discussion.

a reply to: ReadLeader

It is having a big affect in the U.K across all sectors of the industry a lot of my friends are not working be they chefs or drillers and talk of oil going to $ 10 - 15 a barrel , i laughed when the same people said it would go to $ 30 a barrel not anymore .

www.petrolprices.com...

Diesel is £ 1.09 a litre in the uk where i live and gas or petrol is £ 1.02 £ 1 is $ 1.43.

Things are going to get bad but the other things that oil makes ie paint will never come down in price in the shops as they make thousands per barrel out of them

a reply to: ReadLeader

Freight car industry has gone down.
Where I work there is no foreseeable contracts involving tank cars in the near future.
Company I work for laid off 500 people because of this, although they did get into the tank cars a little late in the game and on the tail end of the things, some experts were saying that if the barrel of oil does not go above 50 dollars, the tank car industry will slowly decline to a halt, and no more orders will be put in.
I work in Hamilton ON. Canada.

I have a friend that's in that industry or deals with that industry.

He's forecasting a doom and gloom.

Possibly a great depression like depression.

I'm not sure about that. I have yet to see ATS bring it up.

a reply to: ReadLeader

Absolutely. Here in NW Louisiana people are getting laid off like crazy. My dad was laid off from Baker Hughes after 39 years when they laid off the entire Sales force there. I believe the entire yard has been laid off except for one supervisor who was knocked down to moving all of the equipment to a different location, then he was to be laid off. My good friend and neighbor was laid off from Baker Hughes in Alaska where he worked 3 weeks on and 3 weeks off and had 19 years invested in the company. Two of my childhood best friends (twins) were both working for Halliburton and had 10 years with them. They were laid off. Most of the crew I worked with in the first decade of the 2000's went to Frac Tech back in 2007 and their yard was shut down last year. I have 8 years experience in the oilfield (so I know a lot of people who have lost their jobs) but got out in 2008 when my brother-in-law asked me to come work for him and I'm still employed.

You should always have a plan B, especially if you were in the oilfield in 2002 when things got rough. Luckily for my dad, he got a severance package of $280,000.00 and had $250,000.00 in 401K so this didn't hurt him at all. Though I feel bad for the thousands that lost their jobs, I'm joyful filling my Ram up for $42.00. Not long ago, the gas pump would cut off because the maximum limit had been reached. I'd have to swipe my card again to continue filling up. That broke me, so as much as I hate to admit it, I couldn't be happier with these prices. I know it sounds selfish, but I really couldn't afford fuel. Not on top of everything else I was having to pay.

Edit: Local news sources say that gas prices in this area could drop as low as $1.00 per gallon in 2016.

a reply to: KEACHI

No need to be an ass. Inflation makes a difference, along with the value that the dollar is at today. People weren't being laid off in waves back in the 90's. Can't speak for the 60's.

Meanwhile the airline industry is profiting.

Here where I live, the gas prices are fluctuating like crazy. Yesterday it was $1.81. A couple of weeks ago, it was $1.27. Now, it's $1.75 and the manager of the store told me to look for much lower prices in the next week or so. She said she wouldn't be at all surprised to see it go down to $1.00. If it does, I have 6 - 5 gallon gas cans that will be filled, given a shot of Sta-Bil and stored down in the out building.
If anyone doesn't know about this stuff, it works great. I keep gas around for my generator, because 2 years ago, a Winter storm knocked the power out for 5 days, in sub zero temps. I had cans of gas that had been there since Summer, with no degradation. In Spring, I use gas in mowers, that's been sitting all Winter.
ETA - You can get it at Wal Mart or pretty much anywhere they sell gas.
www.goldeagle.com...

a reply to: DAVID64

Remember the gas stations after 9/11? I can remember lines of cars into the road because people were filling up several gas cans each along with their cars and stores were running out of gas quicker than you could get to the pumps. They did this for fear of gas prices skyrocketing. It was insane.

a reply to: TheBandit795

Not really. Most airlines signed long term agreements that set the price of jet fuel. They have agreed to by so many gallons at a set price. When the price of oil was high, this was good for them. Now that it is low, it is not so good because they are still locked into these agreements.

originally posted by: DAVID64
Here where I live, the gas prices are fluctuating like crazy. Yesterday it was $1.81. A couple of weeks ago, it was $1.27. Now, it's $1.75 and the manager of the store told me to look for much lower prices in the next week or so. She said she wouldn't be at all surprised to see it go down to $1.00. If it does, I have 6 - 5 gallon gas cans that will be filled, given a shot of Sta-Bil and stored down in the out building.
If anyone doesn't know about this stuff, it works great. I keep gas around for my generator, because 2 years ago, a Winter storm knocked the power out for 5 days, in sub zero temps. I had cans of gas that had been there since Summer, with no degradation. In Spring, I use gas in mowers, that's been sitting all Winter.
ETA - You can get it at Wal Mart or pretty much anywhere they sell gas.
www.goldeagle.com...

How much does the stabilizer cost?

Just thinking about whether it's actually worth it to buy a 30 extra gallons for less than a dollar discount if you have to buy 6 bottles of fuel stabilizer.

I doubt gas will rise enough in the next 6 months to make it worth the trouble.

I'm in Texas, but north D/FW so don't get to see direct results of the layoffs happening down south and to the west. Our economy is still booming, and with the company I primarily work for the lower gas prices help out, as we're in the process of expanding and taking on a lot more work all across the state.