INSTITUTE INDEX: As oil prices crash, a beholden Congress scrambles to aid a faltering industry

Current price of a barrel of oil: just over $30

Last time oil prices were this low: 2003

Price to which Goldman Sachs has warned a barrel of oil could sink: $20

Year through which investment analysts anticipate oversupply of offshore drilling rigs, which could possibly last longer if oil prices remain depressed: 2018

Number of workers oil and gas companies have laid off globally amid the slide: more than 250,000

Week that Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and House Energy and Commerce Chair Fred Upton (R-MI) will meet to discuss energy legislation to include expediting natural gas exports, upgrading infrastructure to move energy to market more quickly, and loosening environmental regulations: 1/18/2016

Rank of Murkowski among top Senate recipients of oil and gas industry contributions: 2

Total amount Murkowski's campaign has received from the industry, surpassed only by contributions to presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX): $388,200

Rank of Upton among top House recipients of oil and gas industry contributions: 5

Total amount Upton's campaign has received from the industry, surpassed only by contributions to former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Charles Boustany (R-LA): $145,700

Total amount the oil and gas industry spent on contributions to congressional candidates in the 2014-2015 election cycle alone: $18.9 million

Amount the oil and gas industry spent on federal lobbying in 2015 alone: $97,312,188

For every $1 the industry spends on campaign contributions and lobbying, amount it gets back in the form of subsidies: $103

Number of members of Congress who are personally invested in oil and gas companies: 120

(Click on figure to go to source.)