Historic Oil Bust Delivers A Gut Punch To 1 High-Flying Texas County

In the endless boom and bust cycle of the oil business, there has never been anything like 2020. The oil patch is reeling from historic low prices. Futures for West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $25 a barrel on Friday, down from more than $60 a barrel at the beginning of the year.

On a normal day in Andrews County, look in any direction and you'll see, stretching to the horizon, the bobbing horseheads of pump jacks sucking up oil from deep in the earth. But these are anything but normal days.