Here's some good news: Lone Star College has a program to train you to be an oil worker. Even better news? The oil and gas industry is hiring.
Lone Star College economist Hank Lewis says the program can get you to work right away.
"These could be younger college students in their late teens or early 20s but it could also be professional people who may have worked in construction or some other areas who wish to receive some more specialized training."
Lewis says there's no doubt it's good news for the Houston economy.
"The oil industry still is one of our larger employers in the Houston area and if they need more people to be working in the field as roustabouts, working on rigs, doing other types of highly specialized manual labor -- I might add -- then this is definitely a good thing."
We've been told over and over $60 a barrel is the sweet spot for oil drillers to make money without driving the price of gasoline too high. It's below $50 a barrel now but Lewis says the industry is making it work.
"If they're able to find a well that has consistent output of a lighter grade of crude oil and it's one that harvests regularly or you have an oil field that's proven and it's fairly easy to tap the area -- you're not going in blind and exploring -- then you may be profitable at a lower price."
Lone Star College is offering a training course for oil industry workers that begins August 1st. The cost is $5,000.