This article was first published on Rigzone here
In a statement sent to Rigzone recently, the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) said Texas upstream oil and gas employment was “steady in 2025, despite market headwinds”.
TXOGA noted in the statement that, according to data released by the Texas Workforce Commission, Texas upstream oil and gas employment “remained essentially flat in 2025, even as producers continued to deliver strong output amid challenging market conditions”.
“Through November 2025, upstream employment totaled 201,200 jobs. While employment declined by 3,500 jobs in November compared with October, year to date employment was little changed, with a net gain of 300 direct upstream jobs,” it added.
“Employment was also modestly higher than a year earlier, rising by 100 jobs, or 0.1 percent,” it continued.
TXOGA noted in the statement that, “since the Covid-era low point in September 2020”, Texas upstream oil and natural gas employment has “increased by more than 44,000 jobs, a 28 percent gain”. The industry body outlined in the statement that this increase “underscor[es]… the industry’s continued role as a high-wage employer in the Texas economy”.
TXOGA President Todd Staples said in the statement that “reaching new production highs in multiple categories with employment essentially remaining steady is absolutely remarkable”.
“Navigating these volatile circumstances is a vivid reminder: growth is not guaranteed,” he added.
“This resilience demonstrated by increased energy output in 2025 depends on policies that support infrastructure development and market flexibility so the oil and natural gas industry can adapt to uncertainty and continue delivering the affordable, reliable energy that powers our modern way of life,” he continued.
TXOGA highlighted in its statement that upstream employment includes oil and natural gas extraction and related support activities, and excludes downstream sectors such as refining, petrochemicals, pipelines, and fuels distribution.
“The combined industry sectors moved up slightly on average from 492,019 in 2024 to 495,501 in 2025, reflecting just less than a one percent increase,” TXOGA noted in its statement.
The industry body went on to note that the oil and natural gas industry represents 31 percent of Texas private sector economy and added that it paid $74 million every day last year in state and local taxes and royalties “that fund our state highway construction, state savings account, universities, schools and first responders”.
TXOGA’s 2025 Energy and Economic Impact report, which was released in early January this year, showed that the Texas oil and natural gas industry employed 495,501 Texans in 2025.
