| Goldman Sachs says lower oil prices will probably disappoint the U.S. petroleum industry’s hope of a drilling recovery in the second half of the year. The U.S. oil price’s recent fall to around $52 a barrel will rule out the possibility that oil companies will send 100 to 150 drilling rigs to U.S. oil fields this year – a bullish market expectation born out of two months of stable $60 oil, which ended late last week. Goldman Sachs analysts wrote they project only 20 to 50 rigs will return to work by the end of the year.
That $8-a-barrel difference could have big implications for the oil field job market: Each rig employs scores of workers, directly and indirectly. The nation’s land rig count has fallen 61 percent from its peak last October, and predictably, the oil field service industry’s workforce has shrunk dramatically since the beginning of the year, with the four biggest firms cutting a combined 49,500 jobs in the first half of the year...............................................Full Article: Source
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