A barrel of crude oil is now 28 dollars a gallon which is more 50 times less than that of a barrel of sparkling water (Perrier: $1825) . In Houston this means lots of job losses and a plummeting local economy. As many of you may know this, the more frightening news is that according to the Huffington post “the cost of oil could continue to drop meaning more troubles in Houston and across Texas.” Many Houston oil company workers are showing great concern and many workers with 25 years at the same company are being forced into early retirement.