Seth,
Sounds like you know what's going on in the "oil patch". As previously stated, it's always been "boom & bust" in the oil business.

Only difference today? Back in the the 1986 oil price collapse, the world had over 16 million barrels a day of excess production capacity. Today, the world has only about 1 million barrels a day of excess oil production capacity. With all the conflicts and political pressures in countries with large oil reserves, some of which are our enemies, one can see how fear and emotion can move the markets quickly. This situation will not change until the supply/demand curves change. Governments are powerless to force prices down without making the long term situation even worse.