Texas oil country sees the downturn coming

[Joanne98]

MIDLAND, Texas (AP) — In the West Texas oil patch, they can see the downturn coming at them from miles away like a pickup truck kicking up a dust cloud on the horizon.

With crude dropping below $40 a barrel from a high of around $150 over the summer, oil and gas companies in the Lone Star State are cutting back on drilling, the layoffs are beginning, and the boom of the past few years appears to be drawing to a close.

The boom may not necessarily give way to a bust. But the days of plentiful jobs, big paychecks and shiny new pickups and SUVs seem to be numbered.

"It's been a good ride up, but we're bracing ourselves for the ride down," said Midland City Manager Courtney Sharp, who expects a drop in tax revenue next month because of slumping sales in the city of about 98,000.

Kevon Horst, 19, landed his first job over the summer in the booming West Texas oilfields when crude was selling for about $140 a barrel. Horst and about 20 others working a rig near Canadian, about 40 miles from the Oklahoma line, were laid off recently. Gone are his $2,000-a-week job and his apartment.

He and his girlfriend moved in with her mother, and he is struggling to keep up with the $500-a-month payments on his new truck.

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