I just left the oil & gas industry, my decision, and today is my first official day of not being employed.
First off, most projects are viable between $45-70/bbl. A lot of projects are profitable in the $45-55/bbl range. I don't think any company would take on a project that was only profitable at $100+/bbl. Oil doesn't stay at $100/bbl for long when it does get there, that would be a very poor fiscal decision to go ahead with a project like that.
OPEC is trying to get their market share back. Doing it while demand is down due to COVID-19 was the perfect time to implement their strategy of kicking NA O&G companies in the teeth while they're down. They'll bankrupt some companies, regain their market share and go back to controlling the oil prices. Russia and Saudi can't run like this forever, they are bleeding money right now. But they probably don't have to, it won't be long for some companies to go bankrupt, with how poor of a fiscal shape a lot of them were in before this crisis.
I will say that the O&G industry is its own worst enemy, and they operate in an extremely unsustainable way. The fiscal waste that comes with the major ramp up and ramp downs must be in the billions, but I've never seen a number attributed to it. The balance sheets of companies would be in much better shape if it wasn't for their greed and reckless behaviors that are shaped and steered by the shareholders. Bailing out these companies just enables their poor and reckless behaviors, let them sink from their own bad decisions.
The US needs to setup their own in-house oil market, with production limits capped to maintain an in-country oil price of ~$50-60/bbl. If you choose to produce more then your allotted cap, that's fine, but you are taking the risk of selling it on the volatile international oil market. We could make the oil industry really stable in the US, but I don't think the greed from the shareholders and executive committees of such companies would allow it to happen.
I've been in the O&G industry for over 10 years, and it's not a surprise the industry is in a lot of trouble. But the industry is its own worst enemy, and corporate greed has gotten the balance sheets to such bad shape that SA and Russia can wipe a few of these companies out. I'm going to be pissed if we bailout the O&G industry with our own tax dollars.