Much like a sudden winter storm, the combining and interaction of the natural gas and power industries appears frozen in place. Late 1997, early 1998, energy demand was soaring. Supplies to meet new demand were questioned. Prices for oil products and natural gas were at highs. Unemployment was practically unheard of in the energy business. From around December 1997 until mid-1998, there were more jobs than people. The demand for drilling rigs was such that the question of building new ones was critical and the availability of personnel was a direct factor of the number of rigs available for operations. The bad days of the 1980s were gone and forgotten.
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