Data released by the Texas Workforce Commission shows 5,200 upstream oil and natural gas jobs were added in April, the highest monthly growth in nearly 11 years.
“Despite continued policy setbacks and supply bottleneck challenges, oil and natural gas companies are moving forward to meet demand here at home and abroad,” said Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association. “These historic job numbers are a sign of strength and, when coupled with the rig count increase of about 58% from last year, are clear indicators of the commitment of the oil and natural gas industry to continue to deliver Texas and American energy security.”
Since the low point in employment September of 2020, industry in Texas has added 33,400 upstream jobs, averaging growth of 1,758 jobs a month, and job growth months have outnumbered decline months 17 to 2. At 190,400 upstream jobs, April 2022 jobs were up by 26,700, or 16.3%, from April of 2021.
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 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.
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