Report: Texas Tops Nation in Oil and Gas Production, Jobs

Dust blows around a crude oil pump jack and flare burning excess gas at a drill pad in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, on Nov. 25, 2019. (Angus Mordant/Reuters)

Texas is the top oil and natural gas producer and industry employer, according to a new report.

The state also ranked highest in the country in industry wages, payroll, and Gross Regional Product (GRP). GRP is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for a region of study.

As the country’s top oil producer, Texas supplied more than 1.83 billion barrels, up from 1.74 billion barrels in 2021, to energy markets, according to a report by the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO). In 2021, the state produced 1.74 billion barrels of oil.

Last year, New Mexico tracked at a distant second, producing 534 million barrels, up from 455 million barrels the year before. And North Dakota came in third with 393 million barrels, a decrease of more than 11 million barrels produced in 2021.

Texas’ natural gas production hit an all-time high, with over 11.2 trillion cubic feet produced last year. Pennsylvania came in second with 7.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, followed by Alaska and Louisiana, each having 3.6 trillion feet.

Oil and Gas Jobs

Texas ranked number one for direct industry jobs last year.

In 2022, more than 347,000 people worked in Texas oil and gas jobs, gaining more than 24,000 jobs over the prior year. The state accounted for 37 percent of the nearly 949,000 direct oil and gas jobs nationwide.

California came in second with 80,772 jobs, followed by Louisiana with 68,733 and Oklahoma with 46,486.

Nationwide, there are more than 19 million jobs, directly and indirectly, tied to the oil and gas industry nationwide.

“When incorporating direct, indirect, and induced multipliers for oil and gas employment, the industry supported a total of 2.6 million jobs in Texas last year,” the report noted.

The average annual wage for Texas oil and gas jobs was $139,061, which is 103 percent higher than the average private sector job in the state. The yearly national oil and gas average wage is $120,665.

At $169,000, Alaska had the highest average industry wages last year.

Workers exit the Marathon Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas on May 10, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Payroll

Texas has 12,306 oil and gas businesses, more than any other state. Overall, there are 45,699 industry businesses in the United States.

It also had the highest industry payroll in the country in 2022 at $48 billion. California trailed in second at $11 billion, and Louisiana ranked third at $7.6 billion.

GRP

The direct GRP totaled $323 billion in 2022, accounting for 16 percent of the Texas economy.

“Using the typical multiplier effect of 2.5 percent, the Texas oil and gas industry supported 40 percent of the Texas economy last year,” the report stated.

Other Key Findings

The United States produced an average of 11.2 billion barrels of oil per day last year, and natural gas production averaged 121.5 cubic feet per day.

Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) exports shifted dramatically from Asia to Europe last year.

In the first half of 2022, nearly 75 percent of all U.S. exports went to Europe, up from 34 percent in 2021.

In June 2022, France and the Netherlands were the top two export destinations. During the same period in 2021, the top two destinations were South Korea and China.

Along the Texas coast, the Port of Corpus Christi moved 90.1 million tons of LNG in the first six months of 2022. Texas export facilities will continue to help meet European demand for LNG.

Texas Economy

Texas is sitting on a $32.7 billion surplus, which in part may be attributed to the state’s oil and gas industry and inflation.

“Texas revenues over the last 18 months have been remarkable,” State Comptroller Glenn Hegar wrote in an op-ed for the Austin American-Statesman in late December.

“Led in large part by business spending, sales tax revenue has set new record highs month after month capped by the most recent collections, which totaled $3.96 billion in November, 11.2 percent more than in November 2021. Staggering growth also came from our oil and gas severance taxes, he continued.

“Unfortunately, inflation has played a role in this historic revenue growth.”