Newly released data from the Texas Workforce Commission shows Texas employment in the upstream oil and gas sector grew by 4,500 jobs in March, representing the highest single month growth in upstream jobs since June of 2011.
“March’s historic increase in jobs in the Texas oil and natural gas industry’s upstream sector is a result of this industry’s commitment to ensuring that American energy leadership’s homebase continues to be here in the Lone Star State,” said Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association. “These job gains mean economic growth for Texas communities and families, energy security for the United States and much-needed stability for our trading partners around the globe.”
Since the COVID-19 low point in September of 2020, months of increase in upstream oil and gas employment in Texas have outnumbered months of decrease by 33 to 9, the association said.
In that time, the industry has added 39,500 Texas upstream jobs, an average growth of 940 jobs a month. Industry jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas, with employees earning an average salary of more than $124,000 in 2023.
The upstream sector involves oil and natural gas extraction and excludes other industry sectors such as refining, petrochemicals, fuels wholesaling, oilfield equipment manufacturing, pipelines and gas utilities, in support of hundreds of thousands of additional jobs in Texas.
The employment shown also includes “support activities for mining,” which is mostly oil and gas-related but also includes some small amount of other types of mining.
Recommended Reading
Renewed US Sanctions to Complicate Venezuelan Oil Sales, Not Stop Them
2024-04-19 - Venezuela’s oil exports to world markets will not stop, despite reimposed sanctions by Washington, and will likely continue to flow with the help of Iran—as well as China and Russia.
US Orders Most Companies to Wind Down Operations in Venezuela by May
2024-04-17 - The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a new license related to Venezuela that gives companies until the end of May to wind down operations following a lack of progress on national elections.
US to Favor Existing Investors for Venezuela Oil Licenses, Say Sources
2024-05-16 - The U.S. is preparing to prioritize issuing limited licenses to operate in Venezuela to companies with existing oil production and assets over those seeking to enter the sanctioned OPEC nation for the first time.
US Decision on Venezuelan License to Dictate Production Flow
2024-04-05 - The outlook for Venezuela’s oil industry appears uncertain, Rystad Energy said April 4 in a research report, as a license issued by the U.S. Office of Assets Control (OFAC) is set to expire on April 18.