You don't have to tell anyone in south Louisiana how bad things have been for the oil industry. One just needs to look at the rig count to see that it's not good.

According to the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association, the U.S. rig count is down for the 15th straight week at only 279 rigs in production.

As you can see in the graph below, the rig count is severely lower than even the crash in the 1980s.

 

Is there hope that things will turn around? According to industry experts, the answer is yes, but it could be more than a year until the demand for oil, gas and gasoline returns to normal.

Unfortunately, that means oil prices will likely be depressed for at least that long.

Stephen Nalley with the U.S. Energy Information Administration says the good news is that the worst has already happened.

But EIA predicts the energy industry won't fully recover for over a year, and that's an optimistic view of things.

Others are hoping that our federal government would intervene and help out.

Montana U.S. Senator Steve Daines says oil is a top priority as senators start to discuss what to include in the next round of coronavirus relief.

“The quicker we can get people back safely to work, back to traveling, back to a normal day to day routine, the better it will be for our industries across the board," says Daines.

 

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