Doug Lucas, 26, who was laid off from oilfield services company Haliburton in 2015 and finishing a master's in petroleum engineering, stands outside the NAPE oil and gas expos in Houston Texas, U.S., February 16, 2017. Future of oil-and-gas industry in Texas is uncertain, economist says. Since the recent drop in oil prices from $100 per barrel to around $50 per barrel, predictions about where prices are going have been all over the board. Estimates have been as low as $20 per barrel and as high as $200 per barrel. Texas leads the nation in both oil and natural gas production. I n the 2017 budget year, the oil production tax brought the state more than $2 billion in revenue, while the natural gas production