I can tell everybody reading this, that if you didn’t work in the oil industry in the early 1980s, you’ve never seen a bust. It was so severe that if equipment broke down, companies would just drag it away from the main road, strip the decals off, then abandon it. Out at Maljamar, NM, Conoco had to finally gather it all up off their leases, take it to a caliche pit, then cover it up with a dozer. I saw nice workover rigs with tools sell at auction for $10,000. I saw powered wireline trailers with tools and 10,000’ of good wireline sell for $25. If you stood at one end of a long street in Hobbs, NM, you could count the for sale signs until they went out of sight. People would leave in the middle of the night owing all bills, because they had no money or ability to pay. Midland National Bank had 200 welding trucks in their parking lot. People that owed on equipment would take it to the bank at night, park the equipment they owed on, drop the keys in the night deposit box, then leave town. The hottest item in town was a one axle trailer that people could use for leaving. All the pawn shops had to quit buying. I’m 71, but remember it well. I could go on and on. Just hope we don’t see those days again.
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No doubt it was severe. But I don't think it's outrageous of us "young" guys to be complaining when we have peers of the same age having absolutely stellar beginnings to their careers in tech or healthcare. I realize we are tethered to a global commodity, but is it so wrong of us to crave a little stability? We were trained and mentored by senior folks who spoke at length about their times in the good ol' days. When investors threw their money into the industry and companies actually sent their people overseas on assignments all over the globe. And they got to actually put their work to the test. A lot of us are 5 years in and have virtually nothing to show for it because the company that recruited us is not the company we work for today. Fine, things change. But our leaders have made blunder after blunder costing a number of us the chance to even develop into professionals who could get work elsewhere. I'm just weary of it, which is ridiculous because I'm not even 30. And now we are looking at who knows how long of even further turmoil in the energy space. This is brutal any way you slice it. And I haven't even begun to unpack the giant mess of how much more expensive it is to live in today's world, even adjusted for inflation. We have cause to be upset.
Agree with previous post. I’m also 30. Graduated HS just after 2008 crash, college, job, crash in 2014, grad school, new job, now the world is crashing again. In 12years it’s been 3 collapses perfectly timed for me to never be successful.
At least, old man, you had a chance to recover and have a life. At this rate, I’ll rent forever, never go on vacation, never have a family. Despite no debt and working since 15, I can’t afford luxuries like that.
I mean I’m 30 and I worked at a friggin grocery store and went into debt after the 2015 bust and it took me over 2 years to get this job, but okay old men.
Yeah I have noooo idea what it’s like, because I’m young. You both struggled, so nobody younger has.
People older than either of you lived through the damn Great Depression, and would look upon your bust with the same smug condescension.
Supplies were so low we were sipping produced fluid out with a straw and spitting it separators. Man those were rough times....
I was there. In Wyoming we used to have to walk to location, in a blizzard, uphill both ways.
I was there. Got laid off in 1986. Took a year and a half to find work again at half of what I was making. Lost my house. These younger people have no comprehension of an actual bust looks like. Everything so far has been short term downturns, but not a true bust. If this oil production/price war keeps up for several more months, then a bust is definitely on the way. WTI in the mid $40's is a real problem, but WTI in the low $30's, possibly high $20's is a disaster. Houston is going to get hit real hard. The current professionals and field workers have no idea, but will find out the hard way.