Dallas Fed says U.S. has lost 70,000 oil jobs in the past year

[flowers]

http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/12/24/dallas-fed-says-u-s-oil-bankruptcies-at-great-recession-era-levels/

HOUSTON – For American drillers, the New Year will likely bring more of the same – financial pressure and mass layoffs.

The U.S. petroleum industry hasn’t seen this many bankruptcies in one quarter since the Great Recession, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas says, counting nine Chapter 11 court filings in the year’s final three-month period. And that’s just a third of the year’s domestic casualty count.

The Dallas Fed also estimates in a new report on Thursday the nation has lost about 70,000 oil and gas jobs since October 2014, a 14.5 percent drop in the 14 months after the domestic shale drilling boom that drew thousands to Houston’s oil hub began a steep decline.

But the sacrifice of dozens of U.S. oil producers, thousands of oil field workers and more than 1,200 drilling rigs still hasn’t stalled U.S. crude production enough to shrink the global oil glut that has sent oil prices below $40 a barrel.

Global crude supplies, the Fed said, could outpace demand by 600,000 barrels a day, and the world’s crude storage tanks may not start to decline until 2017.

That’s in part because increased production from Iran has come on earlier than anticipated and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is expected to continue pumping crude at current levels.

Iran, which expects western sanctions on its oil exports to be eased next year, has said it wants to pump an additional 500,000 barrels a day. Goldman Sachs believes that OPEC, which includes Iran, will boost its daily production in 2016 by 640,000 barrels. But that’s a conservative estimate that assumes Iran will only put out 285,000 barrels a day next year.

[HAPPY2BME]

Was in Alaska in November and saw large amounts of very expensive equipment used for oil drilling from large caterpillar bulldozers to whole fleets of almost new trucks, etc.  Lots of it was being sold off by Haliburton.

[truth_seeker]

This is all part of a predictable pattern, seen several times post WWII.

Over the long, long haul OPEC wants high prices. They are willing to accept relatively low prices in the short run, to discourage added capacity.

The US could create a price floor, to encourage domestic production for national security reasons.

I believe we should also be building shale-oil-extraction pilot plants.

[HAPPY2BME]

This is all part of a predictable pattern, seen several times post WWII.

Over the long, long haul OPEC wants high prices. They are willing to accept relatively low prices in the short run, to discourage added capacity.

The US could create a price floor, to encourage domestic production for national security reasons.

I believe we should also be building shale-oil-extraction pilot plants.

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I know of several career senior managers (REGIONAL levels) who have been early retired (won't mention company), and this is going on everywhere and will continue.  You are right about 'planned' strategy on the global scale, and we're definitely losing as far as retaining our own oil production capabilities, both now and future.  After closing down entire oil fields, it takes astronomical amounts of venture money to open them back up, and that is what the Saudis are counting on.  You have to remember that Saudi acts as a GOVERNMENT, and they have a GOVERNMENTAL strategy to castrate the American oil industry.  With Obama's skillful surgical knife in hand, and the Saudi's as his faithful operating room assistants, we don't stand a chance of creating our own sustainability.  They pulled it off.

[truth_seeker]

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I know of several career senior managers (REGIONAL levels) who have been early retired (won't mention company), and this is going on everywhere and will continue.  You are right about 'planned' strategy on the global scale, and we're definitely losing as far as retaining our own oil production capabilities, both now and future.  After closing down entire oil fields, it takes astronomical amounts of venture money to open them back up, and that is what the Saudis are counting on.  You have to remember that Saudi acts as a GOVERNMENT, and they have a GOVERNMENTAL strategy to castrate the American oil industry.  With Obama's skillful surgical knife in hand, and the Saudi's as his faithful operating room assistants, we don't stand a chance of creating our own sustainability.  They pulled it off.

During the 1980s there was a federal "synfuels" program. At Parachute Creek Colorado the fedgov subsidized the price, for subsidized a pilot/demonstration plant to produce liquid transport fuel from oil shale. The subsidy was in the form of a per barrel guaranteed price, from the Dept. of Navy.

For national security reasons, we should be independent regarding many natural resources, like oil etc. A good leader could "sell" energy independence, for jobs, security, etc.

But that would not pass a "pure conservative" litmus test, so to speak.