Oil is a volatile commodity. The energy sector knows this and they take appropriate steps to weather the low points in the price cycles.
If the people who work in the energy sector, or depend on those workers to support their businesses, do not do the same, well, then that is their oversight, and they are going to suffer for it. Dem’s the breaks.
Anyone in any employment field should diversify their skills enough so that when the economy tanks in one field a person can have a fall back skill. I got out of the Navy when the early 1980's recession hit. I changed professions five times in about as many years. I was an HVAC mechanic. I worked at the 1982 Worlds Fair in maintenance. When it closed the local economy tanked in all jobs. Many companies were laying off.
I went back to school for Commercial/Industrial Wiring. While going to school I worked in a Cemetery mowing grass and digging graves with pick and shovel. I also joined the Army NG. Between drawing VA for school, the grave yard, and NG stint, I got by. While in the Guards I took an interest to truck driving and after my school course was complete and the economy was still down I took a short Commercial Driving Course. I drove a rig for a while then finally got a job doing HVAC and Electrical Maintenance in a health Care facility. My biggest commodity was being able to pick up on new skills fast. Every profession a person can work in will have it's downturn except for perhaps an undertaker.
Low fuel prices are going to hurt some workers that's a stone cold fact. BUT Cheap energy prices will help many, many, more persons. Production and Transportation cost go down. That means groceries and other commodities go down. That's the way our economy is supposed to work. Oil Prices will drop, producers will adjust output, and prices will again rise.
If the government stays out of this it will work out for all concerned far better and faster.