Newly-released data from the Texas Workforce Commission indicates that upstream oil and natural gas employment grew by an additional 2,200 jobs in October. These new numbers extend the strength of 2023’s job growth to date, with 16,500 jobs added so far this year.

“In spite of turbulent economic times and increasing geopolitical tensions, Texas’ oil and natural gas industry continues to grow,” said Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association. “Industry remains committed to continuing to produce affordable reliable energy to provide energy security for our nation and our allies around the world.”

Since the COVID-low point of September of 2020, industry has added or recovered 55,900 jobs, averaging growth of 1,511 jobs a month. At 212,900 upstream jobs, compared to the same month in the prior year, October 2023 jobs were up by 19,200, or 9.9% over October of 2022. Months with an increase in upstream oil and natural gas employment have outnumbered months with a decrease by 32 to 5. Oil and natural gas jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas with employers paying an average salary of approximately $115,000 in 2022.

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, which support 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.

Founded in 1919, TXOGA is the oldest and largest oil and gas trade association in Texas representing every facet of the industry.