The thing about this industry is that you must understand that you can always be made redundant and laid off. That's one of the reasons why it pays so much, risk. You will find it difficult to find a career at one company in this field, it isn't built that way to begin with unless you are extremely lucky or not replaceable(which is almost impossible). The smart people who work in O&G save that extra money they make for times like theses, everyone i know here at work has a solid rainy day fund and understands they could lose their job any day.
It's hostile right now, but O&G companies are extremely wasteful with spending. In 4 months we have figured out to build, drill, frac and construct facilities for well sites in Texas at 40% less cost. All because people had to buckle up and save their jobs by being forced into a cost reduction scenario. It worked like a charm and most of the office people are still employed.
It's the field crews that got the shaft, which is exactly the way it's designed to work. These guys get paid a ridiculous amount of money, if they aren't smart enough to understand the market trends and save money, fuck'em. Depending on what position these field guys do (there are many), you can make $50-75 per hour with a ton of overtime. No education, just training certifications and safety.
Oil prices will slowly gain in 2016 and eventually be back to $70-80, but that is going to take years.
Enjoy it while you can. The calculation i did for myself showed that i will save ~$1200 the entire year at the current gas rate over last year while driving 15k miles in a truck that gets 17-18mpg.
If that breaks the bank, you need to find a better way to budget your finances.
