Dramatic oilfield job growth is tied to boosts in oil and natural gas production and reports that those trends will continue, the Texas Oil & Gas and Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners associations say.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that the Permian Basin’s crude oil production will set an all-time record of 6.6 million barrels per day next year while its natural gas production averages 25.8 billion cubic feet per day.
“New data from the Texas Workforce Commission indicates that upstream oil and natural gas employment grew by 800 in September compared to August,” TXOGA President Todd Staples said. “Today’s data mark five out of nine months and the fourth month in a row so far this calendar year in which the job count has increased.
“With weakness in global economies, international conflicts and uncertainties at home, a positive job count for September is welcomed news,” Staples said from Austin. “Texas remains the production powerhouse for America and the innovation center for energy growth and improvement.”
He said the Texas energy industry has added 38,400 upstream jobs, averaging growth of 800 per month, since the COVID-low point of September of 2020.
“Since then months with upstream oil and gas employment increases have outnumbered those with decreases by 37 to 11,” Staples said. “These jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas with employers paying an average salary of approximately $124,000 in 2023.”
He noted that 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 that support hundreds of thousands of additional jobs across the state.
Citing the EIA, TIPRO said projected U.S. crude oil production will rise to 13.5 million barrels per day in 2025, a record high, while marketed natural gas production is expected to increase to an average of 113.4 billion cubic feet per day next year.
“Much of the forecast growth in oil and natural gas production will be driven by productivity gains in the Permian Basin,” said TIPRO President Ed Longanecker. “In the Permian specifically, the EIA has estimated that crude oil production will top 6.6 million b/d and marketed natural gas production will average 25.8 Bcf/d in 2025.”
He said direct Texas upstream employment for September totaled 195,400, an increase of 800 industry jobs from revised August employment numbers.
“The Texas upstream employment data represents a decrease of 900 jobs in oil and gas extraction and an increase of 1,700 positions in the services sector last month,” Longanecker said. “There were 11,970 active unique jobs postings for the Texas oil and natural gas industry last month, an increase of 147 posted employment opportunities compared to August, and 4,623 new job postings were added during the month by companies.
“In comparison the state of California had 4,008 unique job postings in September, followed by Florida with 1,984, New York with 1,910, Pennsylvania with 1,658 and Oklahoma with 1,528.”
Longanecker said there were 56,563 unique job postings nationwide last month within the oil and natural gas sector.
“Among the 19 specific industry sectors that TIPRO uses to define the Texas oil and natural gas industry, gasoline stations with convenience stores led in the rankings for unique job listings in September with 2,933 postings followed by support activities for oil and gas operations with 2,539 and crude petroleum extraction with 1,160,” he said.
Longanecker said the leading three cities by total unique oil and natural gas job postings were Houston with 3,019, Midland with 843 and Odessa with 431.
“The top three companies ranked by unique job postings in September were Cefco with 1,173, Love’s with 676 and Energy Transfer with 427,” Longanecker said. “Of the top ten companies listed by unique job postings last month four companies were in the services sector, three in the gasoline stations with convenience stores category, two midstream companies and one upstream company.”
He said the top posted industry occupations for September included first-line supervisors of retail sales workers with 689, general maintenance and repair workers with 402 and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers with 386.
“The top posted job titles for September included assistant store managers with 274, customer service representatives with 233 and maintenance people with 176,” Longanecker said, adding that 40 percent of unique job postings had no education requirement listed, 34 percent required a bachelor’s degree and 28 percent required a high school diploma or GED.
In September, he said, Texas energy producers paid $516 million in oil production taxes according to recent data released by the Texas comptroller’s office.
“Producers last month also paid nearly $200 million to the state in natural gas production taxes,” Longanecker said. “Production taxes paid by the oil and natural gas industry are used to support major revenue streams for the state including public education funding, the State Highway Fund, the Rainy Day Fund and other vital parts of the state budget.
“Rising upstream employment and a record production forecast mean one thing, the world needs more oil and natural gas to meet growing energy demand and Texans are more than willing to accommodate. Our state is blessed with an abundance of oil and natural gas and the most pro-business environment in the country and we must keep it that way.
“As we approach the conclusion of another consequential election cycle, we encourage all Texans to do their due diligence and vote for candidates who support economic prosperity and energy security for our state and country.”
