Over the past ten years, oil prices have captivated the attention of nearly every American. This is not surprising as the price for a barrel of oil has risen from less than $15 to more than $150 in just the past decade, generating massive profits for oil and gas companies, as well as those who invested with them. As many would have predicted, the high cost of energy was unsustainable for the current worldwide recession, and since summer of last year, oil prices have fallen as much as 76%.

This extreme drop in the price within just a few months time shocked oil and gas companies who were extremely happy with the seemingly never ending increase of profits. Now with oil prices hovering around the $40 per barrel mark, many of these companies are cutting production and investment to reduce the available supply of energy, subsequently increasing the cost of