The U.S. oil and gas industry directly employed 2.04 million workers in 2023.That’s according to the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association’s (TIPRO) latest state of energy report, which highlighted that this figure represented a net increase of 56,373 direct jobs compared to 2022, subject to revisions.
There were 385,662 direct U.S. upstream sector jobs in 2023, a net increase of 23,709 jobs compared to 2022, the report noted. It also highlighted that the direct, indirect, and induced oil and gas jobs total for the nation was 24.14 million last year.The report revealed that the largest sector by employment in the U.S. oil and gas industry was “Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores”, with 882,656 workers in 2023, followed by “Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations”, with 221,456 workers, “Oil and Gas Pipeline and Related Structures Construction”, with 134,339 workers, and “Natural Gas Distribution”, with 114,017 workers.
The largest increase in jobs in 2023 occurred in Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores, with a net increase of 19,731 compared to 2022, the report stated. This was followed by Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations, with a net increase of 19,606 jobs, Oil and Gas Field Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing, with a net increase of 2,918 jobs, and Oil and Gas Pipeline and Related Structures Construction, with a net increase of 2,342 jobs, the report highlighted.
According to the report, the oil and gas industry paid a national average wage of $79,427 in 2023. Workers in Crude Oil Extraction earned the highest annual average wage of all oil and gas industry sectors at $220,863, followed by Petroleum Refineries ($168,773), Natural Gas Extraction ($164,333) and Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas ($159,967), the report stated.
Texas Leads the Nation
The report noted that Texas led the nation in oil and gas jobs.Twenty-three percent (471,631) of all direct U.S. oil and gas jobs were located in the state, according to the report, which revealed that Texas had a total of 199,397 upstream jobs and 2.86 million direct, indirect, and induced oil and gas jobs.Texas was the leading state by employment in 15 out of the 19 sectors used to define the oil and natural gas industry in 2023, TIPRO said in the report.
The top five positions held by workers in the Texas oil and gas industry in 2023 were Cashiers, accounting for 13 percent of jobs, General and Operations Managers, accounting for four percent, Oil & Gas Roustabouts, also accounting for four percent, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, again at four percent, and Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas, also at four percent, the report pointed out.
Oil and gas jobs in Texas paid an annual average wage of $124,453, the report highlighted, noting that this was 74 percent more than all average private sector jobs in the state.TIPRO noted in the report that the highest average industry wages were in Alaska last year ($143,421).Crude Petroleum Extraction paid the highest oil and gas wage in Texas last year, at $248,374, followed by Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas, at $214,594, and Natural Gas Extraction, at $191,362, according to the report.
Unique Challenges
In a statement sent to Rigzone announcing the release of TIPRO’s latest state of energy report, Jud Walker, the Chairman of TIPRO and President and CEO of EnerVest, Ltd, said, “despite facing a number of unique challenges, including geopolitical conflicts and an adversarial federal policy environment, the U.S. oil and gas industry continued to offer significant economic support in 2023, while providing reliable and affordable energy to meet growing domestic and global demand”.
“TIPRO’s comprehensive annual analysis illustrates the immense contributions provided by the Texas oil and natural gas industry from an economic and national security perspective,” Walker added.In the statement, TIPRO President Ed Longanecker said, “the Texas oil and natural gas industry remains a cornerstone of the Texas and U.S. economy, and a critical source of energy security for our country and allies abroad”.“We applaud the immense contributions provided by the Texas oil and natural gas industry and the policymakers that understand its importance,” he added.
TIPRO’s latest state of energy report is its ninth in total. It offers a “detailed analysis of national and state trends in oil and natural gas employment, wages, and other key economic factors for the energy industry in 2023” the organization noted in the statement, adding that the reports were developed to quantify and track the economic impact of the domestic oil and natural gas sector with an emphasis on the state of Texas.
TIPRO describes itself as a trade association representing the interests of nearly 3,000 independent oil and natural gas producers and royalty owners throughout Texas. Members include small businesses, the largest, publicly traded independent producers, and mineral owners, estates, and trusts, according to the organization.
Source:https://www.rigzone.com