Texas’ upstream natural gas and oil industry added 5,200 direct jobs from March to April, bringing the state’s latest direct upstream headcount to 190,400, the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) said Friday.
“Texas operators are responding to the call to increase production, despite facing numerous challenges, including inflationary pressures, workforce shortages and an adversarial federal policy environment,” said TIPRO’s President Ed Longanecker.
TIPRO said the April upstream workforce figure represents a year/year increase of 26,700 positions, including 4,300 in oil and gas extraction and 22,400 in oilfield services (OFS).
Nationwide, OFS employment grew by more than 8,600 jobs from March to April, the Texas-based Energy Workforce & Technology Council recently reported.
OFS companies also figured prominently among the top three companies based on unique Texas job postings in April, said TIPRO. Baker Hughes Co. topped the list with 650 postings, followed by NOV Inc. with 586 and Weatherford International plc with 487.
The Houston metropolitan area, Texas’ largest region for oil and gas employment, added 1,100 upstream jobs in April to raise its total count of direct positions to 66,100, TIPRO said.
The trade group added the Houston region’s April upstream employment was up 7,700 jobs year/year, including a 3,300-position gain in extraction jobs and 4,400-job increase in OFS.
Statewide, TIPRO observed 11,313 active unique job postings in April in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry. The three top cities based on total job postings were Houston with 3,931 listings and Permian Basin hubs Midland (1,184) and Odessa (514).
TIPRO, which breaks down Texas’ oil and gas industry into 14 sectors, said support activities for oil and gas operations had the most unique job listings in April with 3,069 postings. Taking second place was crude petroleum extraction, with 1,510 postings, followed by oil and gas field machinery and equipment manufacturing with 1,069.
The most commonly listed industry occupation for April was heavy tractor-trailer truck drivers, with 474 postings, TIPRO said. Software quality assurance analysts and testers, with 258, and personal service managers, with 251, were second and third most popular job classes, respectively.
The Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) said the 5,200 month/month increase in direct upstream jobs was the highest monthly gain in nearly 11 years.
“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 deliver Texas and American energy security,” said TXOGA’s President Todd Staples.
TIPRO obtains its employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
