[Nervous Tick]

I’m curious. Did the oil industry expect this downturn?

If not, what unexpected event triggered the unexpected downturn? Or conversely, what blinded the industry to this possibility?

(By the way this happens in other industries. One that I am familiar with is semiconductors. DRAM for decades has been a wild and crazy way to make and lose lots of money in recurring famine-glut cycles.)

[thackney]

Did the oil industry expect this downturn?

I have not found any reliable reports prior that indicated it was coming. I see little actions in the oil companies behavior that indicated they did, just the opposite for many.

If not, what unexpected event triggered the unexpected downturn?

Supply grew faster than demand.

Or conversely, what blinded the industry to this possibility?

The possibility of oil price crash always exists in the industry, always has. No one of real experience would claim differently, except to pump up stock prices and investment...

[stockpirate]

While QE was on going the free money to the banks went in to commodities, once the free money stopped the fake support of the markets collapsed. The Fed was propping up the markets so Obama looked good and they could make trillions.

Now that the phony support for the markets is gone the markets will find out where REAL support lies. This applies to commodities as well as stocks, food etc.

The cost of production can be lowered by removing government fees, taxes and lowering wages across the board.