(The Center Square) – Texas’ oil and natural gas industry supported more than 2.5 million total jobs statewide in 2019, a new analysis found, contributing the most to the state’s GDP and total income of any industry.
Texas’ oil and gas industry contributed $411.6 billion to the state’s gross domestic product, including $251.2 billion to the state’s total labor income in 2019, the report found.
The findings show how the oil and gas industry plays an “indispensable role … in providing jobs and investment that benefits every community and all Texans,” Texas Oil and Gas Association President Todd Staples said in a statement. The industry provides the socio-economic “underlying foundation of Texas public school, university and public infrastructure funding,” he added, contributing the most to school districts and higher learning institutions in the state.
The industry will also serve as the foundation for long-term growth and prosperity iin Texas, American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers said, as long as policies remain in place to enable it to grow.
“Texas’s economic outlook is brighter when we are leading the world in energy production,” he said, reminding lawmakers about “what’s at stake if policymakers restrict access to affordable, reliable energy and make us more dependent on foreign sources.”
The 134-page report, which evaluated the oil and natural gas industry’s impact on Texas’s economy, was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The report is based on the latest economic data available from several government agencies.
According to the findings, in 2019, the industry directly and indirectly supported more than 2.5 million jobs (620,330 direct and 1,888,540 indirect) or 13.9% of Texas’ total employment. For every direct job in the oil and natural gas industry, an additional 3.5 jobs were created.
The industry also contributed 22% to the state’s total income and to its GDP.
It contributed $251.2 billion in labor income ($134.3 billion direct and $116.9 billion indirect), accounting for 21.8% of the state’s total income. It also contributed $411.5 billion to Texas’s gross domestic product ($230.9 billion direct and $180.6 billion indirect), accounting for 22.3% of the state’s total.
In 2019, the U.S. led the world in oil and natural gas production, with Texas leading the nation.
Nationally, the oil and gas industry supported more than 11.3 million total jobs (2.5 million direct and 8.8 million indirect), accounting for 5.6% of all U.S. employment in 2019. It also produced $892.7 billion in labor income ($318.6 billion direct, $574.1 billion indirect), or 6.8% of the nation’s total labor income.
The industry also contributed $1.7 trillion to the national gross domestic product ($763.3 billion direct, $925.3 billion indirect), accounting for 7.9% of the national total.
