THE U.S. oil and gas industry employed 948,943 professionals in 2022.
That’s according to the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association’s (TIPRO) latest State of Energy Report, which noted that this figure represented a net increase of 39,721 direct jobs compared to 2021, subject to revisions. There were 358,776 direct U.S. upstream sector jobs in 2022, which marked a net increase of 32,627 jobs compared to 2021, the report outlined.
The largest sector by employment in the U.S. oil and gas industry was Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations, with 199,552 workers in 2022, followed by Oil and Gas Pipeline and Related Structures Construction (129,949), Natural Gas Distribution (111,918), and Crude Petroleum Extraction (82,628), the report revealed. The largest gains in jobs in 2022 occurred in Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations, with a net increase of 23,039 jobs compared to 2021, followed by Drilling Oil and Gas Wells (9,489), and Oil and Gas Field Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing (2,450), the report highlighted.
According to the report, 21 percent of jobs were held by individuals between the ages of 25-34, 28 percent were held by those between 35-44, 23 percent were held by those between 45-54, 19 percent were held by those between 55-64, and five percent were held by those who were 65 or older. The oil and gas industry was said to have paid a national average wage of $120,665 in 2022, which the report noted was 74 percent higher than the average private sector wage in the U.S.
Workers in Crude Oil Extraction earned the highest annual average wage of all oil and gas industry sectors at $210,417, followed by Petroleum Refineries ($157,024), Natural Gas Extraction ($152,996) and Petrochemical Manufacturing ($151,751), the report outlined.
Texas Breakdown
TIPRO’s latest report noted that Texas led the nation in oil and gas jobs with 347,828 people employed in the industry.
Thirty-seven percent of all oil and gas jobs nationwide were located in Texas last year, the report highlighted, adding that Texas was the leading state by employment in every single sector in 2022, with the exception of Natural Gas Distribution (California), and that Texas had the highest number of oil and gas businesses in the nation last year with 12,306.
According to the report, the top four positions held by workers in the Texas oil and gas industry in 2022 were Oil & Gas Roustabouts (five percent), First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (4.3 percent), Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas (4.3 percent), and Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (4.1 percent). Three percent of the Texas oil and gas workforce were between the ages of 22-24 years old, 22 percent were 24-34, 29 percent were 35-44, 22 percent were 45-54, 17 percent were 55-64 and five percent were 65 or older, the report revealed.
Oil and gas jobs in Texas were said to have paid an annual average wage of $139,061 last year, which the report outlined was 103 percent more than the average private sector job in the state. The highest average industry wages were in Alaska last year ($169,018), while South Dakota had the lowest average oil and gas wages in the country ($74,665), according to the report.
Top Oil and Gas Producing States
Texas was the top oil-producing state in 2022 with 1.82 billion barrels produced, the report highlighted. New Mexico was second with 533 million barrels, while North Dakota was third with 393 million barrels, Colorado was fourth with 161 million barrels, and Alaska was fifth with 159 million barrels, the report revealed.
The top three was the same back in 2021, according to the report, which showed that Texas produced 1.74 billion barrels that year, while New Mexico produced 454 million and North Dakota produced 405 million barrels. Alaska was shown to be fourth in 2021, with 159 million barrels, and Colorado was shown to be fifth, with 153 million barrels.
Texas was also the top gas-producing state last year, with 11.2 trillion cubic feet of gas produced, the report highlighted. Pennsylvania was shown to be second with 7.5 trillion cubic feet, Louisiana was shown to be third with 3.59 trillion cubic feet, Alaska was shown to be fourth with 3.58 trillion cubic feet, and Oklahoma was shown to be fifth with 2.7 trillion cubic feet. The report outlined that Texas was also the top gas producer back in 2021 with 10.5 trillion cubic feet, while Pennsylvania was second with 7.6 trillion cubic feet, Alaska was third with 3.5 trillion cubic feet, Louisiana was fourth with 3.3 trillion cubic feet and West Virginia was fifth with 2.6 trillion cubic feet.
Texas Oil, Gas Remains State Economy Cornerstone
“Despite facing a number of unique challenges, including supply chain bottlenecks, inflationary pressures, workforce shortages and an adversarial federal policy environment, the U.S. oil and gas industry continued to offer significant economic support in 2022,” Jud Walker, the chairman of TIPRO and president and CEO of EnerVest, Ltd, said in a statement accompanying the release of TIPRO’s latest State of Energy report.
“Oil and natural gas development, led by Texas operators, will play an important role in meeting growing global energy demand for decades to come under any realistic scenario,” Walker added in the statement.
In another statement accompanying the report, Ed Longanecker, the president of TIPRO, said, “the Texas oil and natural gas industry remains a cornerstone of our state economy and a critical source of energy security for our country and allies abroad”.
“TIPRO will continue to work with our members and policy leaders to maintain a business and regulatory environment that supports the responsible development of oil and natural gas for the benefit of Texans, the United States and our allies abroad,” he added in the statement.
Founded in 1946, TIPRO represents nearly 3,000 individuals and companies from the Texas oil and gas industry, according to its website, which notes that the organization is one of the country’s largest oil and gas trade associations and the strongest advocacy group representing both independents and royalty owners in Texas.
•By Andreas Exarheas|Rigzone Staff
To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com