A bust hits the Oil Patch as rest of nation enjoys cheap gas

In this March 18, 2016 photo, Douglas Randall, a 60-year-old fisherman-turned-oilfield truck driver, stands on a rain-soaked day near his semi-truck parked at a gas station in Houma, LA., awaiting his next job. He is paid per load and works for oil companies, but he says work has dropped off by half due to the low price of oil and a reduction in drilling. Louisiana's oil industry is being clobbered by an unexpected worldwide oversupply of crude oil. The Louisiana Workforce Commission says the state has lost about 12,000 oil and gas jobs since 2014 as gas prices have ebbed. (AP Photo/Cain Burdeau) In this March 18, 2016 photo, Douglas Randall, a 60-year-old fisherman-turned-oilfield truck driver, stands on a rain-soaked day near his semi-truck parked at a gas station in Houma, LA., awaiting his next job. He is paid per load and works for oil companies, but he says work has dropped off by half due to the low price of oil and a reduction in drilling. Louisiana's oil industry is being clobbered by an unexpected worldwide oversupply of crude oil. The Louisiana Workforce Commission says the state has lost about 12,000 oil and gas jobs since 2014 as gas prices have ebbed. (AP Photo/Cain Burdeau)

By Associated Press April 17, 2016 5 min read

HOUMA, La. (AP) – It might sound strange, but the penny-pinching folks in Louisiana’s Oil Patch can’t wait for the price of gasoline to go back up.

Cheap gas at the pump – though a welcome cash infusion for millions of American households – is a way of saying “recession” in south Louisiana, where oil wells are as common as shrimp nets and alligators.

Since 2014, Louisiana has lost about 12,000 oil and gas jobs as prices have declined, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission. Nationwide, about 100,000 jobs related to the oil and gas industry have been lost since January 2015, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

Many are left wondering when prices will rise again.

“Yesterday, I paid $1.87 for gas,” Patti Lafont said, shaking her head while waiting on tables at a restaurant in Houma, deep in the Oil Patch. “I would rather pay any day $3.87 per gallon because, over here, that’s what we live on: fishing and the oilfield.”