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According to the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association’s (TIPRO) analysis, direct Texas upstream employment for April totaled 206,000.

That’s what TIPRO said in a statement sent to Rigzone on Friday, which cited the latest Current Employment Statistics (CES) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In the statement, TIPRO highlighted that the April figure was “an increase of 1,700 industry positions from March employment numbers, subject to revisions”. TIPRO also noted in the statement that this represented an increase of 900 jobs in the services sector and 800 jobs in oil and gas extraction.

“TIPRO’s new workforce data still indicated strong job postings for the Texas oil and natural gas industry, although April data showed a decline in overall unique postings compared to the previous month, despite an increase in new postings,” TIPRO noted in its statement.

“There were 8,826 active unique jobs postings for the Texas oil and natural gas industry last month, compared to 10,120 postings in March, and 3,919 new postings, compared to 3,458 in the previous month,” TIPRO added.

“In comparison, the state of California had 2,611 unique job postings in April, followed by New York (2,392), Florida (1,744) and Colorado (1,290),” it continued.

In the statement, TIPRO reported a total of 49,826 unique job postings nationwide in April within the oil and natural gas sector, “including 22,744 new postings in April”.

The industry body highlighted in its statement that, among the 19 specific industry sectors it uses to define the Texas oil and natural gas industry, Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores “led in the ranking for unique job listings in April with 2,158 postings”. This was followed by Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations, with 2,015 postings, and Petroleum Refineries, with 775 postings, TIPRO pointed out.

TIPRO revealed in the statement that the leading three cities by total unique oil and natural gas job postings were Houston, with 2,021, Midland, with 592, and Odessa, with 411. The top three companies ranked by unique job postings in April were Love’s, with 665, Cefco, with 655, and John Wood Group, with 280, the industry body outlined in the statement.

TIPRO noted in its statement that, of the top ten companies listed by unique job postings in April, five companies were in the services sector, two were in the gasoline stations with convenience stores category, two were midstream companies, and one was an oil and gas operator. 

Top posted industry occupations for April included retail salespersons, with 411 postings, first-line supervisors of retail sales workers, with 391 postings, and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, with 360 postings, according to TIPRO, which highlighted that the top posted job titles for April included customer service representatives, with 155 postings, store managers, with 141 postings, and maintenance technicians, with 112 postings.

Top qualifications for unique job postings included a valid driver’s license, with 1,574 postings, a CDL class a license, with 300 postings, and hazmat endorsement, with 166 postings, TIPRO pointed out in the statement.

According to TIPRO, 42 percent of unique job postings had no education requirement listed, 30 percent required a bachelor’s degree, and 29 percent required a high school diploma or GED. The industry body noted in the statement that there were 1,733 advertised salary observations, which it pointed out was 20 percent of the 8,826 matching postings, with a median salary of $58,200.

“The highest percentage of advertised salaries (26 percent) were in the $90,000 to $500,000 range,” TIPRO said.

In its statement, TIPRO also highlighted “significant tax contributions” by the state’s oil and gas industry that the industry body said “continue to offer essential support of government coffers and provide funding for public services”.

“In April, Texas energy producers paid $436 million in oil production taxes, according to data published by the Texas comptroller’s office, up from March 2025,” TIPRO highlighted in the statement.

Producers last month also paid $233 million to the state in natural gas production taxes, up 37 percent from a year ago, TIPRO noted in the statement.

A statement sent to Rigzone by the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) on Friday stated that 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,” TXOGA noted in that statement.

“At 206,000 upstream jobs, compared to the same month in the prior year, April 2025 jobs were up by 2,100, or one percent,” the industry body added.

“Since the Covid-low point of September of 2020, the industry has added 49,000 Texas upstream jobs, a 31.2 percent increase, averaging growth of 891 jobs a month,” TXOGA went on to state.

“During the same time, months with upstream oil and gas employment increases have outnumbered those with decrease by 39 to 15”, the industry body continued.

In its statement, TXOGA noted that these jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas, and pointed out that employers in oil and natural gas paid an average salary of approximately $128,000 in 2024.

TXOGA highlighted in its statement that 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 it said 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,” TXOGA said in its statement.

In the statement, TXOGA President Todd Staples said, “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”.

TIPRO describes itself as a trade association representing the interests of nearly 3,000 independent oil and natural gas producers and royalty owners throughout Texas. TXOGA describes itself as the oldest and largest oil and gas trade association in Texas representing every facet of the industry. It was founded in 1919.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com