While certain items such as toilet paper might be hard to find in stores due to high demand, gas prices are at the lowest level in years.

“The price drop is primarily a result of two things: COVID-19’s effect on the global economy and an oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia which has dropped the price of crude oil to about $20 a barrel, the lowest it’s been since 2002. 

The lower gas prices have been a great help to save money during the COVID-19 pandemic for local motorists like Jared Miles.

“Yeah the gas prices are great, I drive around DFW a lot, and it’s really helped me having the gas prices go down significantly,” Miles said. “I can fill up my tank for $25 now, instead of $50 normally, so it’s been a good thing.”

Despite Texans benefitting from cheaper gas prices, the market changes have been a disaster for the oil industry in the state. After the West Texas Intermediate opened above $60 at the beginning of 2020, it closed at $26.08 on Monday.

Companies in the oil rich Permian Basin region of Texas face an uncertain future, with Midland, Texas mayor Patrick Payton explaining the situation in an interview with Foreign Policy. 

“Waking up here in the Permian Basin is sort of like waking up after a tornado every single morning,” Payton said. “We’ve got economic disaster with our companies literally at standstill. I’ve talked to people who have been here since 1979, and they say they’ve never seen it this bad.”

Oil prices have risen slightly on Tuesday with industry leaders hoping that an OPEC, Russia meeting to be held Thursday will help stabilize the markets. Serious damage to the U.S. oil markets might already be done, as the American output forecast was slashed ahead of the meeting.

“The cuts are automatic if you’re a believer in markets,” U.S. President Donald Trump said to reporters of U.S. producers. “They’re already cutting. If you look, they’re cutting back. It’s the market. It’s demand. It’s supply and demand. They’re already cutting back and they’re cutting back very seriously.”