I'm Sorry, But We're All Paying Less for Gas

A story in our local paper talks about the problems of West Texas. This area, the center of the Texas oil industry, is suffering. People are being laid off from the oil fields, because drilling has, as it were, dried up.
No surprise: With the price of oil below $40, and with drilling a supply response to shocks that raise oil prices, it is no longer so profitable to drill new wells — suppliers have moved down along the supply curve.
With that decline, the demand curve for labor, which is derived from the market for oil, has shifted leftward.
I feel sorry for the laid-off oil workers, my fellow Texans and Americans; but the decline in oil prices has also hurt some of my least favorite people — the Saudis and Messrs. Putin and Chavez — so my tears are fairly limited. Also, as with any decline in product price, consumers gain. As usual, a few lose a lot, while each of the many gains a little.