Texas Upstream Oil and Gas Employment Figures Rise in August

Employment numbers in the Texas upstream sector during the month of August have jumped from figures reported in July.

Citing the latest Current Employment Statistics (CES) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) said that Texas upstream employment for August 2023 totaled 208,500, which TIPRO said was in increase of 1,200 jobs from July numbers.

According to TIPRO’s analysis, Texas upstream employment in August 2023 represented the addition of 18,200 positions compared to August 2022, including an increase of 2,300 jobs in oil and natural gas extraction and 15,900 jobs in the services sector.

TIPRO’s new employment data yet again indicated strong job postings for the Texas oil and natural gas industry during the month of August. According to the association, there were 11,951 active unique jobs postings for the Texas oil and natural gas industry in August, including 4,409 new job postings added during the month by companies.

In comparison, the state of California had 3,641 unique job postings last month, followed by Louisiana (1,790), Oklahoma (1,609) and Pennsylvania (1,364). TIPRO reported a total of 53,810 unique job postings nationwide last month within the oil and natural gas sector, TIPRO said in its analysis.  

The top three companies ranked by unique job postings in August were Cefco (933), John Wood Group (543) and Love’s (406), according to TIPRO. Top posted industry occupations for August included first-line supervisors of retail sales workers (612), maintenance and repair workers (544) and heavy tractor-trailer truck drivers (343). The top posted job titles for August included customer service representatives (193), store managers (192) and field service technicians (120).

TIPRO further cited data released from the Texas comptroller’s office that Texas energy producers paid $501 million in oil production taxes last month, up from the prior month, and also contributed $137 million in natural gas production taxes, also higher than totals collected in July.

Overall, tax receipts from the sector are down from earlier this year, due to a slowdown in drilling activity in some of the state’s top oil and natural gas basins.

“Despite economic headwinds from high inflation, aggressive monetary policy and continued efforts from Washington D.C. to target domestic oil and gas production, the upstream sector in Texas thankfully remains strong,” said Ed Longanecker, president of TIPRO. “Policies designed to slow exploration and production activity do nothing to impact growing demand, but can directly affect investment and supply, further exacerbating the economic strain being felt by all Americans. We need collaboration, not politics, to develop a cohesive and sensible strategy that recognizes the critical importance of oil and gas and much needed investment in energy infrastructure,” concluded Longanecker. 

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