The Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association announced last week an increase of more than 5,000 oil and gas-related jobs in the Texas upstream sector between January and February.
The TIPRO analysis notes that Texas upstream employment for February totaled 181,900, an increase of 5,100 jobs when compared with January's numbers. The numbers were taken from the latest Current Employment Statistics report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This represents an increase of 20,700 positions since February 2021 — including an increase of nearly 2,000 positions in oil and gas extraction and 18,800 services-sector jobs.
According to TIPRO's analysis, job posting data for February in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors also holds strong alongside growing employment, with almost 10,000 active unique job postings for the industry in February, up 20% from January.
The industry sector that saw the most unique job listings was support activities for oil and gas operations, with 2,712 postings, followed closely by crude petroleum extraction with more than 1,200 and petroleum refineries with about 900. Most commonly sought positions in February were heavy tractor-trailer truck drivers, maintenance and repair workers and software developers and software quality assurance analysts and testers.
Top cities for oil and natural gas postings were Houston with 3,319, Midland with 1,048 and Odessa with 541, according to TIPRO. The top three companies seeking applicants were Baker Hughes, Halliburton and National Oilwell Varco Inc.
Ed Longanecker, TIPRO's president, said that rising global energy demand caused by geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine was putting a strain on oil and natural gas supply and prompting an urgent need for increased domestic production.
"Though the U.S. energy sector is not immune to supply chain challenges and workforce shortages presented by both Covid-19 and the unfolding conflict in Eastern Europe, Texas oil and natural gas operators stand ready to support growing energy demand here and around the world," Longanecker said.
