Data from the Texas Workforce Commission suggests that Texas upstream oil and natural gas employment expanded by 3,100 jobs in June – the fifth best single-month performance in over five years. Since the low point in employment in September 2020, months with job gains have outnumbered decline months 7-to-2.

Compared to the same month in 2020, June 2021 jobs are finally up over the same month of the prior year.  Now, upstream jobs are 9,000 higher, or 5%, than June of 2020.  June’s job count stands 10.3% higher, or 15,600 more, than that of September of 2020, the low point. Total upstream employment is 173,100 upstream jobs – jobs that pay among the highest wages in Texas.

“Continuing job growth in the oil and natural gas industry is critical for the economy at large because every direct oil and natural gas job in Texas generates an additional 3.0 jobs elsewhere in the state’s economy. A thriving oil and natural gas sector not only provides the power, products and fuels we need but also propels the rest of the economy forward,” said Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA). This and other economic impact data are included in a new analysis released by TXOGA and the American Petroleum Institute that shows how the oil and natural gas industry drives post-pandemic economic recovery and strengthens all industries.

Texas Jobs in Upstream Oil & Gas

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.

Oil and natural gas extraction is upstream activity, meaning that it excludes other sectors in the industry such as refining, petrochemicals, fuels wholesaling, oilfield equipment manufacturing, pipelines, and gas utilities. The employment shown also includes “Support Activities for Mining,” which is mostly oil and gas-related but includes some small amount of other types of mining, also.

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: TXOGA