Saudi Arabia to lower oil prices, the houston boom is over

I never feel so tall as when others feel small.

 

Yeah, maybe so. Smh

Some people just can't enjoy a meal unless everyone else at the table is starving.

 

Sounds like an ex left you for a guy in O&G?

Or, maybe, yes - you are just a bad person for feeling good about tens of thousands of people who've done you no wrong are going through a hard time.

 

Screw it. I’ll tell you why I have such disdain for the O&G industry. For years I tried to get a job in O&G. I got nary a sniff due to not having any O&G experience. Nevermind that I have accomplished feats that very few would believe if I shared them. I have a myriad of technical experience, have led cross-functional teams of highly trained technical specialists in the most difficult of scenarios, I hold an MBA, and possess quite a bit of experience in analytics and economics. I can almost guarantee that I’m more qualified than the vast majority of their hires. They would have been lucky to have me.

The very fact that these companies are laying off such vast numbers of employees after only such a recent downward spike in prices speaks to the amount of dead weight these companies were carrying on payroll. I’ve been through layoff after layoff and I can tell you that organizations simply do not lay off the essential star performers, the true go-getters.

So now, I say to hell with them. I hope oil goes to 15 bucks a barrel and they experience as much pain as possible.

Give me cheap gas and some chastened oil majors and their employees and I’m happy.

 

I tend to agree with this. After the financial crisis of 2008, we saw massive layoffs in the financial services industry. In reality it was just an excuse for the management to get rid of non essential personal without looking bad. I don't know the specifics of what most low and mid level O&G people do on a day in/day out basis, but if we compare it to the last crisis the country faced in 2008, we will never see these O&G jobs again in this city.

 

You sound like a little spiteful baby. Sometimes people are just unlucky. When you are having to put projects on hold, lay down rigs, well the folks on those projects will be put in a very tough situation.

 

Didn't all the O&G people get into the business knowing that the bubble would burst eventually? Or at least didn't they see it coming?

Sure, it sucks to lose your job. Unemployment sucks for anyone. But, I think everyone saw the writing on the wall and should've been prepared for the worst when it would eventually come.

I hope those unfortunate ones have made some savings and can land another job. I'd even consider jumping ship even if I thought I was safe for now, because lucrative O&G business won't be around forever.

 

EDIT: Also, it isn't just people directly in the O&G industry that will lose their jobs. We've seen over 1,000 steel plant workers laid off, and I imagine there will be more people in the peripheral industries that will be laid off.

It's different for different individuals. The essential employees of an E&P are going to be the engineers and scientists. Everyone else is pretty much non-essential. For a non-field based service firms it is probably going to be the same. Anyone working in operations is particularly hard-hit at first because of the drilling downturn.

However, I think this downturn while terrible for those losing their jobs may have a bright spot in that it forces many of these companies into an existential crises. In the near-term and long-term, this could be a good thing: weed out the weak.

That being said, I sympathize with the people losing their jobs and feel bad for them, but the O&G does not need a bailout.

 

You sound like a bitter baby. Get over it.

 

Speaking of bitter baby.

I don't like to see anyone losing their jobs whether they work in O&G, Space, Mc Donald ...

But if you think people living under poverty level shouldn't be happy over saving hundreds of dollars then I would seriously doubt that you've ever had sympathy for anyone else.

 

It reminds me a bit of the people who were flipping houses 10 years ago and crying foul when they got caught with their pants down as the market dropped out. Unfortunately, there were many legit people who just wanted a home and got caught holding the bag and cant get rid of the house.

It applies somewhat to O&G. Many of these inexperienced people jumped on the train and squandered away the good pay. Unfortunately there are going to be a lot of good people who have been in the industry for many of years who will lose their job.

 

I've said numerous times that it's considerable savings for some folks.

 

Shame on all the people that took good jobs in the O&G industry. Those that are getting layed off are getting exactly what they deserve. Let's see how they make a better life for themselves and their families now.

Said no reasonable person, EVER. It's a damn shame to come in and read this BS on a Sunday morning. Pathetic.

 

It'd be funny if they finally gave you a job two months ago, then fired you on the first of the year.

 

I've kind of just been sitting back, reading this thread and watching it all unfold. Guess I should start by saying I've been in the industry for about four years now. I took a lesser position (never do that again) when I started just to get in with my company. I've worked incredibly hard to get where I am, I pour myself into my job and take great pride in doing so.

Anyone that is happy that others are losing their jobs should rethink that stance and think about the individuals and not the industry. At the time I was hired in I had a one year old son and wanted more for him and my family. Most here if you've read me now know I'm a single father with full custody of two boys ages five and two. No I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I love my life and my boys, I'd have it no other way. I'm not one of these individuals that caught in at the right time and made a windfall only to piss it away or not appreciate where I am. I make a competitive salary, but I'm not overpaid.

So that brings me to where I'm at today. My company is going to have layoffs most likely starting this week. Thing is, they've been incredibly quiet about it all, which leaves me with a great deal of uncertainty. I've acquired this information from a good source, so I know it's coming, it was pretty obvious anyway. I've known for weeks so it's actualy kept me up at night, I've been dreaming about it, stressing about it just trying to keep it together. Not knowing if I'll be able to keep it all together for my boys is the hardest part, it's all I truly care about. Ultimately, when you're a parent you'll do all you can to provide for your children, but the uncertainty is an absolute killer.

So for all that couldn't care less about others because they don't like the industry and they get cheaper gas, ok... I get it to a point...Just know that it's much bigger than that. Most of my team have young children and families that they are worried about. Every one of them have earned what they have and I worry for them as well. The industry is not littered with people along for the ride. (yes some are) This is just like anything else, hard working people that need their jobs and soon won't have them. I guess it's easy to take a narrow view when you're not affected in the negative.

For all that are going through this whether it's O&G or any other industry, I feel for you and wish you the best.

 

This sounds reasonable and I feel for some in the O&G who work hard to make ends meet.

But I think you know that the avg pay in O&G is easily 25%+ better than most every else, for the same skills. Other people don't have the same pension and severance pay like you do either.

I wish the top guys at your companies would restructure so they can keep everyone, maybe at a small pay cut but that's just a pipe dream. They will lay people off, and they still make their millions whether they have their jobs or not, those are the ones you should be mad at.

 

Get intouch if there is anything you need mikol13.

 

The work is also considerably more dangerous if you work in the field. The hours are longer (12+) and the shifts from days to nights and duration of days worked are sometimes up in the air. That is especially true for 3rd parties. The roughnecks may have a 2-on-2-off schedule but that may not apply to everyone else at the rig site, and may certainly not apply to those who work in completions and work over.

I think you are painting with way too broad of a brush considering that these are the individuals being laid off as of right now. Of course the non-CPA accountant who works 8 hour days, 5 days a week, doesn't pull weekends, doesn't have an indefinite work schedule (until they finish drilling the well), and doesn't work in a dangerous environment that smells like diesel and is filled with the constant skreetching of the drill pipe doesn't make as much as those who are working on location.

How do you consider this 'better' pay?

 

Outside of one or two people above, I don't think anyone has expressed happiness over the problems of the O&G industry. This debate started over the idea that falling oil prices are a bad thing in general. The point many of us are making is that 300 million people are benefiting from lower oil and gas prices, many of them in far more precarious financial positions. It sucks for the people in the industry that are losing their jobs and have uncertainty, but it benefits far more people and industries all across the country. I think the idea that those people should be expected to pay more for oil to help people in the oil industry is the more selfish view.

 

Given that he said - and you bolded - "for the same skills", what on earth would make you think he might be comparing an accountant at a desk job to someone working in oil field?