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

This is VERY accurate. I know of a company in our area that just laid off nearly 200 employees in a two county region. I'm still confident that upstream operations and their vendors are who will feel the pain, mid/downstream operations are likely to tread water or even thrive.

There's probably going to be more consolidation as well, ala Haliburton and Baker Hughes. I'd also wager that gasoline prices will creep upward come Spring as well. Supply will be lower due to refinery turnarounds and maintenance. Diesel will probably skyrocket as well once refineries shift their production away from heating oils.

 

Target announced potential layoff of 17,000 employees in Canada as it closes over 130 stores. Canada is a major oil producer and exporter, and a lot of tar sands projects have been shelved over the past couple years. Have not heard of US Target employees being laid off.

 

Target's problems don't lie with oil and gas. They just didn't know how to market in Canada so now they have to shutdown the Canadian division.

 

Yep. As a vendor to them Canada Target has had problems for a few years now. Nothing to do with O&G

 

This is the difference between the previous Houston booms and the one we just experienced: institutional money.

Most of the booms in the past were largely entrepreneurial. This time it was institutional. You might cut some jobs...but you've added a ton of institutional jobs from huge players that are less susceptible to downturns. They're not playing with a 15 year plan...they're playing with a 50 year plan. Very different from past booms here.

 

You should have tried to make them stock used hair gel. You could have made a fortune.

 

We were lucky to get paid in American dollars.

 

Countries have gone to war over stuff like this - seems like an economic attack by the Saudis.

DD

 

We did a drive-around the campus (couldn't get in due to security) a few weeks ago. It was the weekend so it was pretty much dead but man is that place huge. There is new housing of all types within walking distance and I'm sure grocery stores and everything else is on the way. Exxon really is creating it's own little village where you could probably have everything you need and never be more than 1/2 mile from home.

 

Probably. Convinient how a lot of the folks we don't like are feeling the pain. Russia and Venezuela

 

I work as a technical writer at a major midstream oil and gas company here in Houston as a contractor. My boss recently gave me the speech-out-of-both-sides-of-his-mouth, the "I don't know how things are gonna go here for you, I'll be brutally honest, oil is now selling at (whatever) and blah blah blah."

I can overhear him now talking to our new boss about the price of in-house technical writing compared to using an outside vendor.

If I took a selfie with me at work right now you'd see standing behind me some tall, cowled, black-cloaked dude with one hand holding a sickle and the other grasping my shoulder.

Hey, if anyone needs a technical writer out there....

 

Can they just hire you instead?

Sounds like he wants someone that is on staff rather than on contract.

DD

 

Agree. I'm currently working for the midstream division of a company and the pressure is on to shake down vendors/suppliers to cut costs. It isn't as doom and gloom as most midstream entities based on what I've heard but there is definitely concern and that creepy feeling is definitely present here.

Meanwhile, I just got a verbal offer from a hiring manager in upstream for another company. In my interview I asked her how sub $50 oil is affecting the business, and more importantly how safe is the position I'm being offered. She said convincingly that the upstream/marketing business for crude is full steam ahead and that it is expected that her team will grown during 2015.

 

Let's see how many of these O&G CEOs and other Execs take no salary or decline this years raises as a show of solidarity and leadership. Probably a very short list.

 

What do you think she is going to say? You will be gone in 6 months?

The closer you get to upstream the better, but I wouldn't believe anything these people say.

 

You won't even need paper because there will be no list.

Thanks Obama.

 

Sounds like a bore.. to be going to work and surrounded by the same corporate ppl you work with all the time.

 

I chuckle everytime I think about the guy who tried selling used hair gel on this site loll

 

Going to war over this?

How ironic...

"I will FIGHT you to pay more money for gas!!!"

 

Other cities be playing checkers. Houston be playing chess. :grin: But I hadn't looked at it like that. Good POV.