Texas Border Business
AUSTIN – New data from the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) indicate that upstream oil and natural gas employment grew by 1,400 in October compared to September. These data mark six out of nine months so far this calendar year in which the job count has increased, and the fifth monthly increase in a row.
TXOGA President Todd Staples issued the following statement:
“Oil and natural gas employment data for the year confirm Governor Abbott’s statement at TXOGA’s annual Lone Star Energy Forum: “Texas would not be Texas without the oil and gas sector. The oil and gas industry powers the Texas economy, and it’s one of the reasons why we are the eighth largest economy in the entire world.”
“The aggression of Russia against Ukraine and ongoing unrest in the Middle East confirms why these energy sector jobs are so important—Texas and America cannot be dependent on foreign nations for our oil and natural gas supplies if we want energy security for our families and friends at home and abroad.”
Since the COVID-low point of September of 2020, the industry has added 39,100 Texas upstream jobs, averaging growth of 798 jobs per month. Since the COVID-low point, months with upstream oil and gas employment increases have outnumbered those with decrease by 38 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.
