AUSTIN – New data from the Texas Workforce Commission indicate that upstream oil and gas employment climbed by 2,200 in May compared to April – and by 7,300 jobs (3.6%) through the first five months of the 2025. At 208,200 upstream jobs, compared to the same month in the prior year, May 2025 employment rose by 5,000, or 2.5%.
Following the release of this data, TXOGA President Todd Staples issued the following statement:
“In these times of geopolitical uncertainty and military conflict, Texas remains not only a supplier of barrels but a builder of confidence. It is encouraging to see job growth and for Texas and America to be seen as a stable trading partner. As global economic conditions and trade relationships realign, adjustment in employment, capital expenditures and production are outcomes that provide for long term stability in energy production. As the nation’s top producer and a world leader, Texas is well positioned to meet power demands with the massive infrastructure system that continues to grow.”
Since the COVID-low point of September of 2020, the industry has added 51,200 Texas upstream jobs, a 33.7% increase, averaging growth of 875 jobs a month. Since the COVID-low point, months of increase in upstream oil and gas employment have outnumbered months of decrease by 40 to 15. Oil and gas jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas.
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.