"Oil prices always rise and fall, we see more," a cowboy dress Lu Ling town economic development companies in the United States, head of trey bailey said airily.

Oil prices fell all the way from the more than $140 a barrel to $30 or so, the oil industry and people rely on crude oil has what effect? Yesterday reporter arrived at the Houston oil town in the west, the traditional Lu Ling for answers.

Drive from Houston along the west route 10, about two hours, just enter the Lu Ling town of more than 5000 residents. The small town of only a main street is permeated with amorous feelings, Texas: trains, cowboy and oil. The street often cowboy, driving pickups people come and go; The ubiquitous "KeTouJi" have been rusty stopped work, some still in monotonously reciprocating motion. In the air a faint smell of oil and gas.

In the 1870 s, opened railway become a distribution center for goods here. In 1922, Edgar Davis and entrepreneurs on total wealth finally hit southwest Texas here after the first bite well, and the town of Lu Ling from railway hub transformed into oil city overnight.

Here belongs to lime rock, crude oil buried shallow, hitting a lack of km can be out of the oil. As the tiny town, around the town more than 180 pumping unit is much smaller than normal. Advantaged conditions make it become one of America's largest oil field, the highest annual output of more than 1100 barrels of crude oil.

However, along with the resources dried up, and now most of the day can only take one or two barrels of oil. Lu Ling petroleum museum in kind and models about the glory of the oil town once. Hanging from the wall of the signs can be seen that the United States all have large oil and gas companies doing business here, but now they have all left, left underground residual resources to small local producers.

Oil prices rise and fall Lu Ling people in calm and cool. But low oil prices to strike oil and gas industry is real, the impact on the everyday life is also significant.

"We the locals of oil price fluctuation has been used to," bailey says, "but, unfortunately, there are a lot of people lost their source of income. I have several friends have lost their jobs, are looking for other work." High oil prices, he says, when employees to earn $670 thousand, and now even have work, income has shrunk to about $twenty-five thousand.

Despite the Lu Ling oil itself is not much, but because from the dense, the second largest oilfield eagle ford shale area only 15 miles, so oil field drilling and service industry is still the town's economic lifeline. Oil prices tumbled for the strike eagle ford shale zone is huge, Lu Ling also been compromised.

James Montgomery have a small drilling company, its two drilling RIGS only a working, the other with other kinds of vehicles, which is worthless, and machinery and equipment spare yard enclosed in the company.

"This year we have fired nine people, there are 40 employees," he said, "pay than normal year fell."

"Now fees paid to drill a hole was 55% lower than the peak," Montgomery said helplessly, "drilling orders also fell badly, last year we also drilled Wells 60, drilling 6 mouth, so far this year, only less than the normal year by more than half."

The town there are two other similar companies, is also just as bad. "Don't expect to make a lot of money now, keep the balance of profit and loss is good," he said.

From a young age to start a company in the year to just 40 years, Montgomery said still have confidence to the industry. Because, like other industries, the boom of the oil industry is determined by supply and demand. Now just exceeds the demand, supply and demand will change someday, oil prices also rose.

"Now we have to adjust to the survival mode," he said, "only through a number of employees and a pay cut to cut costs. Some companies will survive, some may collapse due to various reasons such as debt."

"If prices have been twenty or thirty dollars, in a few years everyone must die," bailey said.

Bailey and Montgomery thought in less than a year should have rebounded to $60 a barrel of oil. Is Houston "Cambridge energy week" meeting energy experts than their pessimistic, most think oil prices stabilize rebound until 2017 years later, and the size of the rebound is not optimistic.