Austin, Texas – Citing the latest Current Employment Statistics (CES) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) today highlighted new employment figures showing an increase in upstream employment in Texas in the month of January. According to TIPRO’s analysis, direct Texas upstream employment for January totaled 203,400 an increase of 2,500 industry positions from December employment numbers, subject to revisions. This represented an increase of 1,600 jobs in Oil and Gas Extraction and 900 jobs in the Services sector.
TIPRO’s new workforce data indicated strong job postings for the Texas oil and natural gas industry. According to the association, there were 10,724 active unique jobs postings for the Texas oil and natural gas industry last month, including 5,140 new postings. In comparison, the state of California had 3,017 unique job postings in January, followed by New York (2,437), Florida (1,936) and Colorado (1,544). TIPRO reported a total of 54,402 unique job postings nationwide last month within the oil and natural gas sector.
Among the 19 specific industry sectors TIPRO uses to define the Texas oil and natural gas industry, Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores led in the ranking for unique job listings in January with 3,160 postings, followed by Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations (2,321) and Petroleum Refineries (801). The leading three cities by total unique oil and natural gas job postings were Houston (2,437), Midland (688) and Odessa (446), said TIPRO.
The top three companies ranked by unique job postings in January were Cefco (1,651), Love’s (693) and Energy Transfer (337), according to the association. Of the top ten companies listed by unique job postings last month, four companies were in the services sector, two in the gasoline stations with convenience stores category, two midstream companies, and two oil and gas operators. Top posted industry occupations for January included first-line supervisors of retail sales workers (841), customer service representatives (369) and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (301). The top posted job titles for January included assistant store managers (330), customer service representatives (324), and maintenance people (214).
Top qualifications for unique job postings included valid driver’s license (1,673), commercial driver’s license (CDL) (275) and transportation worker identification credential card (173). TIPRO reports that 46 percent of unique job postings had no education requirement listed, 29 percent required a bachelor’s degree and 26 percent required a high school diploma or GED. There were 1,648 advertised salary observations (15 percent of the 10,724 matching postings) with a median salary of $60,300. The highest percentage of advertised salaries (25 percent) were in the $90,000 to $519,000 range.
Additional TIPRO workforce trends data:
TIPRO also highlights rising tax contributions by the oil and gas industry that continue to support essential government coffers and public services. In February, Texas energy producers paid $486 million in oil production taxes, up 6 percent from February 2024, according to data published by the Texas comptroller’s office. Producers last month also paid $221 million to the state in natural gas production taxes, 19 percent higher than a year ago.
Additionally, TIPRO points to new energy outlooks from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasting record high oil and natural gas production in the U.S. this year. U.S. crude oil production is projected by the EIA to average 13.61 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2025 and then grow to 13.76 million b/d in 2026, up from 13.22 million b/d in 2024. Natural gas output in the United States is also forecasted to rise this year, with the latest projections from the EIA showing dry gas production will jump from 103.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2024 to 105.2 bcfd in 2025 and 107.5 bcfd in 2026. That compares with a record 103.6 bcfd in 2023.
Also of note, this week, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the following actions in the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in U.S. history, to advance President Trump’s Day One executive orders and Power the Great American Comeback.
UNLEASHING AMERICAN ENERGY
- -Reconsideration of regulations on power plants (Clean Power Plan 2.0)
- -Reconsideration of regulations throttling the oil and gas industry (OOOO b/c)
- -Reconsideration of Mercury and Air Toxics Standards that improperly targeted coal-fired power plants (MATS)
- -Reconsideration of mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program that imposed significant costs on the American energy supply (GHG Reporting Program)
- -Reconsideration of limitations, guidelines and standards (ELG) for the Steam Electric Power Generating Industry to ensure low-cost electricity while protecting water resources (Steam Electric ELG)
- -Reconsideration of wastewater regulations for coal power plants to help unleash American energy (Oil and Gas ELG)
- -Reconsideration of Biden-Harris Administration Risk Management Program rule that made America’s oil and natural gas refineries and chemical facilities less safe (Risk Management Program Rule)
LOWERING THE COST OF LIVING FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES
- -Reconsideration of light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty vehicle regulations that provided the foundation for the Biden-Harris electric vehicle mandate (Car GHG Rules)
- -Reconsideration of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and regulations and actions that rely on that Finding (Endangerment Finding)
- -Reconsideration of technology transition rule that forces companies to use certain technologies that increased costs on food at grocery stores and semiconductor manufacturing (Technology Transition Rule)
- -Reconsideration of Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards that shut down opportunities for American manufacturing and small businesses (PM 2.5 NAAQS)
- -Reconsideration of multiple National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for American energy and manufacturing sectors (NESHAPs)
- -Restructuring the Regional Haze Program that threatened the supply of affordable energy for American families (Regional Haze)
- -Overhauling Biden-Harris Administration’s “Social Cost of Carbon”
- -Redirecting enforcement resources to EPA’s core mission to relieve the economy of unnecessary bureaucratic burdens that drive up costs for American consumers (Enforcement Discretion)
- -Terminating Biden’s Environmental Justice and DEI arms of the agency (EJ/DEI)
ADVANCING COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM
- -Ending so-called “Good Neighbor Plan” which the Biden-Harris Administration used to expand federal rules to more states and sectors beyond the program’s traditional focus and led to the rejection of nearly all State Implementation Plans
- -Working with states and tribes to resolve massive backlog with State Implementation Plans and Tribal Implementation Plans that the Biden-Harris Administration refused to resolve (SIPs/TIPs)
- -Reconsideration of exceptional events rulemaking to work with states to prioritize the allowance of prescribed fires within State and Tribal Implementation Plans (Exceptional Events)
- -Reconstituting Science Advisory Board and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (SAB/CASAC)
- -Prioritizing coal ash program to expedite state permit reviews and update coal ash regulations (CCR Rule)
- -Utilizing enforcement discretion to further North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Helene
“TIPRO looks forward to collaborating with policymakers at the state and federal level to support domestic oil and natural gas producers in this new era of American energy dominance,” said Ed Longanecker, president of TIPRO. “As the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the country, the Texas miracle is alive and well and will continue play a critical role in providing energy to meet growing demand here and abroad,” concluded Longanecker.
Finally, earlier this month, TIPRO released the 10
th edition of its
State of Energy Report, the most comprehensive annual economic report for the U.S. oil and natural gas industry. Additional information can be found
here.
