Bakken is still very busy. Several articles suggest that about 80% of the Bakken wells will still be profitable at $40/bbl. Bakken is growing production at a rate of about 1 million barrels per year. Articles suggest that production growth may slow to 400,000 bbl/year due to lower oil prices. They say that because of contracts in place and work in progress that it will take six months for drilling to wind down after a price collapse. It will take several years for production to drop off as wells play out. The thing about drilling at Bakken is that it is low risk, they don’t have many dry holes.
Offshore is still high risk, high cost, and takes years to get into production. For the biggest companies that can afford it, this is going to be a good time to explore offshore with less competition at lower costs. The price of oil will be back up by the time new offshore discoveries get into production.
The biggest companies with the biggest and newest rigs and boats will still be working – at much lower days rates. Many smaller companies with older and smaller equipment will go under. Jobs are going to be harder to find and pay less.