Texas oil and gas jobs show three months of jobs growth

(The Center Square) – As Texas continues to lead the U.S. in job growth creation and break its own employment records, the Texas oil and natural gas industry also reported job growth last month.

The upstream oil and natural gas employment grew by 1,000 jobs in August over the month.

August’s job numbers represent a third consecutive month of job gains and four months out of seven this year where the job count increased.

“Month after month, Texas continues to demonstrate its strength as a production powerhouse, rising to meet the growing energy needs of our state, nation, and allies around the world,” Texas Oil & Gas Association president Todd Staples said. “Upstream job growth reflects the sustained demand for these indispensable resources and underscores the industry’s unwavering commitment to energy leadership, keeping Texas at the forefront of the global energy landscape.”

Since the COVID lockdown era low point of September 2020, the industry has added 37,400 Texas upstream jobs. Months with upstream oil and gas employment increases also outnumbered those with decreases by 36 to 11 since then, TXOGA says.

The upstream sector involves oil and natural gas extraction and some types of mining. It excludes the refining, petrochemicals, fuels wholesaling, oilfield equipment manufacturing, pipelines, and gas utilities sectors that all support hundreds of thousands of additional jobs statewide.

“Once again, the Texas oil and natural gas industry continues to provide access to high-quality employment opportunities, reliable and affordable energy, and the advancement of important infrastructure projects despite a multitude of challenges, including a heavily politicized and uncertain federal regulatory environment,” Ed Longanecker, president of Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association, said. “Imagine what could be accomplished if federal policymakers could establish a coherent and realistic energy policy platform in a non-partisan manner for the benefit of our country, consumers and our allies abroad. We applaud the consequential work and unwavering commitment of our industry and will continue to promote sound energy policy at all levels of government to support the exponential growth in energy demand in the years ahead.”

According to TIPRO’s analysis, direct Texas upstream employment for August totaled 194,400, an increase of 1,000 industry jobs from revised July employment numbers. Last month’s upstream employment data represents a decrease of 1,700 jobs in oil and gas extraction and an increase of 2,700 positions in the services sector.

Texas’ workforce data also shows strong job postings for the industry, with 11,823 active unique jobs postings last month. Industry jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas, with an average salary of $124,000 in 2023.

The jobs report comes after the Texas oil and natural gas industry broke multiple records in 2023 and again this year, The Center Square reported, including record production, exports, refining outcomes, crude oil supply, methane reduction, and tax revenue paid.

Last month, the industry paid $543 million in oil production taxes, an 8% increase from last August, and $80 million in natural gas production taxes.

Revenue collected from oil and natural gas severance taxes supports a wide range of public services, including road and infrastructure investments, water conservation projects, public education, first responders and others.