Oil jobs in North Dakota

Cheap oil jobs in the United States, North Dakota.

The drop in petroprecios has drawn thousands of oil jobs throughout the supply chain sector; to mitigate the fall in the price, oil firms cut jobs and wages.

Marcus Benson moved 2,400 kilometers from his home in Philadelphia to North Dakota by the oil shale boom. He made the long journey without job and no place to live-in April 2012 after hearing on the news that the state had the lowest unemployment rate in the country.

"I felt it was a good oil job opportunity. I was not doing much, "Benson, who had been doing odd jobs after leaving college, told CNNMoney said.

He immediately got a well-paying job loading wagons sand used for hydraulic fracturing or fracking (hydraulic fracturing to extract hydrocarbons).

"I spent doing odd jobs for $ 8 an hour to $ 25 per hour. I thought it was crazy, "Benson said. It was not long before they earn $ 30 per hour.

Of course, then oil was at $ 100 a barrel. This week, oil fell below $ 50, pushing oil producers to high costs as shale companies.

Good times for Benson, 28, finished the New Year's Eve, when he lost his new offshore oil job at Ames Water Solutions, which serves the fracking industry.

"They said the main reason was the fall in oil prices," Benson, who requested unemployment benefits this week said.

Now you are worried about not being able to find another oil job before being expelled from housing owned by the oil company.

Benson is one of thousands of energy workers who have been laid off in recent weeks. In many cases, these were good paying oil jobs healthy salaries.

The drop in oil prices is generating savings for drivers at the pump is also threatening the livelihoods of people in the energy industry that was previously booming.

"We are jobless now"

Jeff Sharpe received the bad news 10 days before Thanksgiving. He and 21 fellow workers on oil platform in Wyoming were dismissed due to depressed prices for oil and natural gas.

"All my friends and family are still talking (positively) low prices. When I say: 'We are jobless now,' they say: 'Oh,' "Sharpe, 32, told CNNMoney. "I do not think they realize what is happening in the big picture".

The Colorado native, who has five years old daughter, has been unemployed ever since. He recently decided to move to North Dakota to take another oil job in completed wells, thinking it would be safer than the side of the hole.

"When I went through this in 2009, I learned my lesson to keep my money rather than spend it. That is what is saving me now, "Sharpe said.

A domino effect on the size of Texas. Beyond North Dakota, Texas is at greater risk of an energy crisis.

Denise Walker fears that have to issue pink slips in Frontier Services, the oil services company that co-owns in Alice, Texas. Just months ago, business was "impressive" but the sinking of the oil has already cost a major customer Frontier and has forced down prices.

"I'll probably have to lay off some people or readjust their wages. I hate doing that, "Walker told CNNMoney.

Terminated employees lose access to generous health benefits company. "I do not know what they will do. It is tragic, "he said.

Walker expects Texas weathers the storm, but said he would not be surprised if the state is sinking into recession. The chief economist at JP Morgan Chase has already warned that this is a very real possibility.

"It's a domino effect. People lose their oil jobs, stop spending money. That affects other companies, "he said. Layoffs in the Gulf

Suffering is also being felt in the Gulf of Mexico, where oil prices are forcing drillers to cut exploration in deep waters.

Alex, who would not give his last name, fears he may lose his good paying offshore oil job as captain of supply. His company has already dismissed two other captains and is operating with less than half its fleet of ships.

"Offshore oil companies are not spending money on offshore projects, so many ships are standing idle or even empty. This is sad because the crews of these ships are trying to make a living for their families at home, "Alex, who has a three-year-old, whose wife is pregnant said.

Despite not finishing high school, he had been grossing $ 100,000 a year, after rising gradually from being a deckhand. Now his oil company is enacting a pay cut of 12% to cope with the depression of the energy industry. "You live the dream for a while... And suddenly the gas prices go down," he said.

Alex acknowledges that low gas prices are excellent for tourists and drivers, especially during the spring break season in his native Florida. "It's good to have so low, but prices need to find a middle ground where everyone is happy," he said.