<p>My question is basically what the title says. How will the low gas prices affect job outlook, production, etc in the next four years? I know the business is cyclical. Will there be any effect at all?</p>
<p>In the short run no, probably not in the long run either. OPEC, the foreign oil cartel which comprises a bunch of countries, is trying push the price of oil down to create economic losses and therefore eventually force the new American oil companies out of business, at which point OPEC will drive the prices back up.</p>
<p>I’d be more worried about new energy forms being implemented.</p>
<p>If oil prices remain depressed for an extended period, the industry will react in attempting to remain profitable (or, if still profitable, more profitable).</p>
<p>Assuming the prices stay depressed, companies will be looking to both trim costs as well as introducing new technologies which make drilling, extraction and transportation more efficient (and thus cheaper per unit). If you are on the improving technology side of the equation, those skills will be in high demand (those skills are always in demand, but in times of price deflation, companies focus on improving productivity because it’s the biggest economic bang for the buck).</p>