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white cloud

(2,567 posts)
Sun Oct 21, 2012, 06:35 AM Oct 2012

After the Boom in Natural Gas

Good job on article.


THE crew of workers fought off the blistering Louisiana sun, jerking their wrenches to tighten the fat hoses that would connect their cement trucks to the Chesapeake Energy drill rig — one of the last two rigs the company is still using to drill for natural gas here in the Haynesville Shale.

At its peak, Chesapeake ran 38 rigs in the region. All told, it has sunk more than 1,200 wells into the Haynesville, a gas-rich vein of dense rock that straddles Louisiana and Texas. Fed by a gold-rush mentality and easy money from Wall Street, Chesapeake and its competitors have done the same in other shale fields from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/business/energy-environment/in-a-natural-gas-glut-big-winners-and-losers.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121021
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After the Boom in Natural Gas (Original Post) white cloud Oct 2012 OP
Interesting History dballance Oct 2012 #1
They'll get what they always get during a bust - the back of the hand. mbperrin Oct 2012 #2
Yup, after living in Houston for 50+ years TexasBushwhacker Oct 2012 #3
 

dballance

(5,756 posts)
1. Interesting History
Sun Oct 21, 2012, 07:05 AM
Oct 2012

My dad worked for the TVA; one of those socialist/communist organizations the RW rails against despite the fact it brought electric power to millions. My mom used to tell us about how the TVA helped wire her house and we still have the oil lamp from her childhood that was converted to electricity.

I hope the workers get some concessions from management. I'm sure they deserve them.

mbperrin

(7,672 posts)
2. They'll get what they always get during a bust - the back of the hand.
Sun Oct 21, 2012, 10:53 AM
Oct 2012

Thousands who came from far away will be trapped in place with no way to return to family, friends, or other support.

Crime, alcohol and drug use will soar.

Former boom communities will become slums.

Then the next time there's an uptick in price, there'll be the same old chorus, "Yay, the boom will save us."

90+ years of Texas history.

TexasBushwhacker

(20,044 posts)
3. Yup, after living in Houston for 50+ years
Sun Oct 28, 2012, 11:07 PM
Oct 2012

I tell any young person that's looking to make a lot of money working on the rigs to do it, but to save their money and plan on another career for the long term. Can you make a lot of money? Yes. For a long time, steadily? Hell no. I think they should give a special warning to anyone wanting to study petroleum engineering in college. It's feast or famine. It has been for decades.

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