Newly released data from the Texas Workforce Commission shows Texas employment in the upstream oil and gas sector grew by 4,500 jobs in March, representing the highest single month growth in upstream jobs since June of 2011.

“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, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association. “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-19 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, the association said.

In that time, the industry has added 39,500 Texas upstream jobs, an average growth of 940 jobs a month. Industry jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas, with employees earning an average salary of more than $124,000 in 2023.

Texas Upstream Jobs Show
(Source: Texas Oil & Gas Association)

The upstream sector involves oil and natural gas extraction and excludes other industry sectors such as refining, petrochemicals, fuels wholesaling, oilfield equipment manufacturing, pipelines and gas utilities, in support of hundreds of thousands of additional jobs in Texas.

The employment shown also includes “support activities for mining,” which is mostly oil and gas-related but also includes some small amount of other types of mining.

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