AUSTIN – New data from the Texas Workforce Commission indicate that upstream oil and natural gas employment climbed by 1,700 in April compared to March. This follows strong hiring growth that took place in January and February of this year, during which upstream jobs grew by 2,600 and 1,600, respectively, with March having been down by 800. At 206,000 upstream jobs, compared to the same month in the prior year, April 2025 jobs were up by 2,100, or 1%.

TXOGA President Todd Staples issued the following statement:

“The oil and natural gas industry continues to demonstrate resiliency while facing uncertainty with underlying demand concerns. These positive job numbers are a tremendous benefit to the families who are supported by this industry and are important for the communities in which they occur. Sound policies that support fair business practices and laws that keep our state competitive are necessary if Texas is going to continue to benefit from oil and natural gas activity.”

Since the COVID-low point of September of 2020, the industry has added 49,000 Texas upstream jobs, a 31.2% increase, averaging growth of 891 jobs a month. During the same time, months with upstream oil and gas employment increases have outnumbered those with decrease by 39 to 15. These jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas, with employers in oil and natural gas paying an average salary of approximately $128,000 in 2024.

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 across 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.

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