Midland Reporter-Telegram

by Mella McEwen

Upstream oil and natural gas jobs in Texas have continued to regain the losses seen beginning in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.

Citing Texas Workforce Commission data, the Texas Oil & Gas Association reports employment in the upstream sector of the state’s oil and gas industry grew by 4,500 jobs in March, the highest single month growth in upstream jobs since June of 2011.

“The latest employment numbers show what we all know here in the Permian, that America and the world run on energy and the Permian Basin will continue to provide it. These energy needs will continue to provide good paying jobs for thousands for many years to come,” Ben Shepperd, president, Permian Basin Petroleum Association, commented to the Reporter-Telegram by email.

“March’s historic increase in jobs in the Texas oil and natural gas industry’s upstream sector is a result of this industry’s commitment to ensuring that American energy leadership’s homebase continues to be here in the Lone Star State,” said Todd Staples, TXOGA president, in a statement. “These job gains mean economic growth for Texas communities and families, energy security for the United States, and much-needed stability for our trading partners around the globe.”

Since the COVID-low point in September of 2020, months of increase in upstream oil and gas employment in Texas have outnumbered months of decrease by 33 to 9. In that time, industry has added 39,500 Texas upstream jobs, an average growth of 940 jobs a month. These jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas, with employers in oil and natural gas paying an average salary of over $124,000 in 2023.

Labor analysts with the TWC tell the Reporter-Telegram that from March 2019 to March 2024, the Midland metropolitan statistical area (MSA) - which includes Midland and Martin counties - added 1,300 jobs in Mining, Logging and Construction for a growth rate of 3.3%. Mining, Logging, and Construction employment in the Midland MSA reached 40,800 positions in March 2024, 2,800 more jobs than the pre-pandemic (February 2020) level. This marked a growth rate of 7.4 percent for Mining, Logging, and Construction employment in the Midland MSA over that time.

From March 2019 to March 2024, analysts said the Midland MSA outperformed Texas as a whole, which saw a rise of 31,700 positions in the sector and a growth rate of 3.1%. Growth in the oil and gas component of Mining, Logging, and Construction had already begun to slow statewide and in the Midland MSA in 2019. In 2020, the Midland MSA experienced significant employment declines in the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, but experienced rapid growth in 2021, which remained steady throughout 2022, before slowing in 2023.

In the metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of Mining, Logging and Construction jobs, Midland dominates with 33% of its total nonfarm employment in the sector. That's 40,800 jobs out of 121,700 total nonfarm jobs. Odessa is second with 23.4% and Longview with 12.8%. Corpus Christi is fourth with 12.4%. For Texas as a whole, 7.5% or 1,048,400 out of a total nonfarm job count of 14,066,600 is in the Mining, Logging and Construction sector.

From 2020 to 2030, in the Permian Basin Workforce Development Area, it’s projected that Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas will add the greatest number of positions with a 58.7 percent growth rate. This occupation is expected to make up 12.3 percent of jobs in the industry by 2030, followed by Roustabouts, Oil and Gas (9.8 percent) and First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (6.4 percent).

In Texas, from 2020 to 2030, it’s projected that Roustabouts, Oil and Gas will add the greatest number of positions with a 49.6 percent growth rate. This occupation is expected to make up 9.1 percent of jobs in the industry by 2030, followed by Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas (8.0 percent) and Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (6.0 percent).

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