Oil and gas employment in Texas rose to its highest level in more than a decade off solid job demand and increased drilling activity.
The Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) announced that employment figures in July for the state’s oil and natural gas industry broke an 11-year record, according to the latest Current Employment Statistics report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
TIPRO found July’s direct Texas upstream employment reached 202,800, an increase of 35,400 from the prior year, with 8,600 jobs in oil and natural gas extraction and 26,800 jobs in the services sector contributing to the historic growth.
“The growth in July upstream employment once again illustrates a high demand for available talent in-line with increasing levels of exploration and production activities in the state to meet growing energy needs here and abroad,” said TIPRO President Ed Longanecker.
The Houston metropolitan area, the largest region in Texas for industry employment, clocked 68,800 direct positions, according to TIPRO, for an annual increase of 11,000 upstream jobs, 5,200 in extraction, and 5,800 in the services sector.
TIPRO highlighted robust job posting data for upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors in July, with 13,614 “active unique job postings” in the state’s oil and natural gas industry.
Houston (4,864), Midland (1,383), and Odessa (639) led the industry in Texas in terms of active unique job postings in July.
“Job growth in the Texas oil and natural gas industry is good news because these high-quality jobs support hundreds of thousands of Texas families and contribute directly to our nation’s energy security and our state’s economic might,” said Texas Oil & Gas Association President Todd Staples.
Besides reporting a record number of industry job postings, Texas oil and natural gas producers are contributing more to state coffers.
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts reported $694 million in oil production taxes in July, an 84% increase from June and a 185% increase from a year ago. The figures represent the biggest collection of state taxes taken from the industry on record.
Oil and gas output in Texas is forecasted to reach new production records in September, according to TIPRO.
Oil production in the Permian Basin, the nation’s most bountiful shale oil basin, will rise by 79,000 barrels per day (bpd) to a record 5.408 million in September, according to projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. August production is expected to reach 1.230 million bpd for the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.
“Despite this growth, Texas operators face numerous challenges, including workforce shortages, supply chain disruptions and growing concerns over policy decisions coming from Washington, D.C. TIPRO remains committed to advancing energy policies at all levels of government to strengthen our nation’s energy security and economic opportunities,” stated Longanecker.