The energy industry is getting hit from all sides.

First, the Oklahoma Legislature recently raised the wellhead taxes on production of oil and natural gas. You tax want you want less of and this onerous tax was already slowing oil and natural operations around the state.

Then the coronavirus hit.

Much of America was told to stay at home, work at home, don’t travel and don’t come out until it’s “safe.” That means less gasoline usage.

One Tulsa retiree said he is now getting “three weeks to the gallon.”

Then, Russia and Saudi Arabia decided to undercut each other and in the process drove the price of oil down dramatically. Amazingly, the price of a barrel of oil was negative temporarily.

The plus is that consumers are getting cheap gasoline prices.

The price of oil and natural gas company stocks has dropped. Some companies are going bankrupt. Small producers in Oklahoma are particularly hit.

You can’t just stop producing when the price drops if your company has bills to pay. And it is difficult and expensive to restart.

Oil and natural gas are big business in Oklahoma. They provide thousands of jobs and they supply a huge chunk of state revenue that pays for schools, roads, etc.

The price of oil has always gone up and down. But Russia/Saudi Arabia, the coronavirus and higher state taxes are back-breaking developments.