Texas oil and gas upstream jobs fell by 1,300 in September, industry body the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) said in a statement sent to Rigzone recently.
“The Texas Workforce Commission, having skipped data releases during the federal shutdown that included the Bureau of Labor Statistics, has resumed job data publication,” TXOGA noted in the statement.
“Today [December 11] the Commission released September 2025 data, indicating that upstream oil and gas employment fell by 1,300 in September compared to August,” it added.
In the statement, TXOGA noted that, “despite recent flat performance”, growth for this year through September “remains a positive 3,900 upstream jobs”.
“At 204,800 upstream jobs, compared to the same month in the prior year, September 2025 jobs were up by 1,900, or 0.9 percent,” TXOGA highlighted.
A chart included in the statement, which displayed Texas oil and gas upstream job figures from January 2021 to September 2025, showed that, despite the monthly dip from August to September 2025, these job figures in September still stood well above the figures in January 2021.
“The recent downward cycle of the upstream job count confirms Texas is not immune to circumstances facing global oil markets,” TXOGA President Todd Staples warned in the statement.
“As a major oil exporter for the United States, the Lone Star State must remain competitive on the worldwide stage,” he added.
“To remain the global leader, our industry depends on Texas legislative, regulatory, and business climate certainty that is favorable to investment and job creation even when supply and demand factors present uncertainty and instability,” he continued.
The White House website highlights that the U.S. government was recently shut down “for a record 43 days”.
August Figures, 2025 Analysis
In a statement posted on its site back in September, TXOGA stated that data from the Texas Workforce Commission shows upstream oil and natural gas employment grew by 200 in August compared to July.
“Growth for this calendar year so far remains a positive 4,200 upstream jobs, and at 205,100 upstream jobs, compared to the same month in the prior year, August 2025 jobs were up by 2,000, or 1.0 percent,” TXOGA said in that statement.
Staples noted in that statement that “the August employment gains are a welcome sign of the Texas oil and natural gas industry’s resilience”.
“Despite forecasts of a supply and demand imbalance and persistent global uncertainties, companies are adapting to manage risk and continue delivering the reliable energy that powers modern life,” he added in that statement.
In an analysis posted on TXOGA’s site earlier this month, TXOGA Chief Economist Dean Foreman noted that that “forecasting is never simple, but 2025 has been a year when the ability to separate meaningful signals from background noise has mattered more than ever”.
“Data releases have been uneven, financial markets volatile, and major forecasting agencies have repeatedly updated their views as conditions shifted,” he highlighted.
“TXOGA’s role is not to predict prices, but to interpret fundamentals consistently. And in Q4, those fundamentals reaffirmed what we highlighted throughout the year: energy markets reward clear-eyed analysis grounded in data-not sentiment, hope, or fear,” he continued.
TXOGA describes itself on its site as a statewide trade association representing every facet of the Texas oil and gas industry including small independents and major producers.
“Collectively, the membership of TXOGA produces approximately 90 percent of Texas’ crude oil and natural gas and operates the vast majority of the state’s refineries, LNG export capacity and pipelines,” TXOGA adds on its site.
“In fiscal year 2024, the Texas oil and natural gas industry supported over 490,000 direct jobs and paid $27.3 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties, funding our state’s schools, roads, and first responders,” it goes on to state.
To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
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