Texas Border Business
AUSTIN, Texas – New data from the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) indicate that upstream oil and natural gas employment grew by 1,600 in July compared to June. This gain came on top of an upward revision of June employment, which is now estimated to have grown by 1,400 upstream jobs. The initial estimate for June showed a decline of 2,000 jobs. Today’s data mark three out of seven months so far this calendar year in which the job count has increased.
“Texas continues to be the production powerhouse for the nation and the U.S. continues to lead the world in meeting basic energy needs,” said Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association. “The men and women in the oil and natural gas industry make this possible. While there are economic variances in most industries, it is undeniable that oil and natural gas are indispensable to maintaining the high quality of life Americans deserve, and the men and women in the field deliver the goods every single day.”
Since the COVID-low point of September of 2020, the industry has added 37,100 Texas upstream jobs, averaging growth of 807 jobs per month. Since the COVID-low point, months with upstream oil and gas employment increases have outnumbered those with decrease by 35 to 11. These jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas, with employers in oil and natural gas paying an average salary of approximately $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, which support hundreds of thousands of additional jobs across 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.
Founded in 1919, TXOGA is the oldest and largest oil and gas trade association in Texas representing every facet of the industry.