Oilfield workforce keeps growing

May 24—The struggle that the Texas energy industry has had to find enough workers since the waning of the pandemic and the resurgence of production continues with another small gain in the workforce as shown by data just released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Texas Workforce Commission.

Referring to the industry's exploration and production sector, Texas Oil & Gas Association President Todd Staples said upstream employment "saw continued growth in April, edging up by 700 jobs and bringing the job count to within striking distance of 200,000 for the first time in over three years.

"Texas' energy leadership continues to meet domestic and global energy needs," Staples said Wednesday from Austin. "The additional employment, even during uncertain economic times, is a strong testament to the commitment of this industry to deliver."

There has been a healthy uptick of 17,600 since April 2022 for a 9.7 percent increase to a total of 199,400 people working in the upstream today.

"Since the COVID low point in September 2020, months of increase in upstream oil and natural gas employment in Texas have outnumbered months of decrease by 27 to 4," Staples said. "The industry has added 42,400 Texas upstream jobs, averaging growth of 1,368 jobs a month.

"These jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas with employers paying an average salary of $115,000 in 2022."

The upstream excludes such midstream and downstream activities as refining, petrochemicals, fuels wholesaling, oilfield equipment manufacturing, pipelines and gas utilities.

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