Texas Oil and Natural Gas Industry Breaks New Production Records

Today, the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) released the 10th edition of its “State of Energy Report,” offering a detailed analysis of national and state trends in oil and natural gas employment, wages and other key economic factors for ​the energy industry in 2024. TIPRO’s “State of Energy Report” series was developed to quantify and track the economic impact of the domestic oil and natural gas sector with an emphasis on the state of Texas.

According to TIPRO, the industry supported over 2 million direct jobs in the U.S. last year, with total direct and indirect jobs tied to the industry reaching nearly 23 million. The U.S. oil and natural gas sector paid a national annual wage averaging $81,808 and had a combined payroll of $168 billion. Total U.S. goods and services purchased in 2024 by the oil and natural gas industry exceeded $865 billion from over 900 business sectors, notes TIPRO. Direct Gross Regional Product (GRP) also surpassed $1 trillion last year.

In Texas, the oil and gas industry once again led the nation in industry employment last year, accounting for 23 percent of all oil and gas jobs in the nation, as outlined in the association’s new report. The industry supported a total of 480,460 direct jobs in Texas in 2024, a net increase of 10,613 positions, with total direct and indirect employment of 2.8 million. Total U.S. goods and services purchased by the Texas oil and natural gas industry reached $307 billion last year, 81 percent of which came from Texas businesses, benefiting virtually every business sector in the state. Direct GRP equaled $366 billion in 2024, supporting 15 percent of the state economy.

The Lone Star State again was the nation’s top oil producer, supplying a record 2 billion barrels of oil to energy markets in 2024, highlighted TIPRO. TIPRO reports that Texas also broke a new record in natural gas output last year with over 12.7 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas produced. U.S. crude oil production averaged a record 13.2 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2024. Further, U.S. natural gas production in 2024 averaged a record 113 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d).

“Despite facing a number of unique challenges, the U.S. oil and gas industry continued to offer significant economic support in 2024, while providing reliable and affordable energy to meet growing domestic and global demand,” said T. Grant Johnson, chairman of TIPRO and president of Lone Star Production Company. “TIPRO looks forward to working with policymakers and officials at the state and federal level to unleash our nation’s full energy potential, with Texas continuing to lead the way,” added Johnson.

Geopolitical tensions around the world continued to be a prevalent issue with conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine fostering uncertainty and volatility across global energy markets. In 2024, Europe accounted for 55 percent of total U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) exports, while 34 percent of U.S. LNG went to Asia and 11 percent was sent to Latin America. Overall, U.S. LNG exports for the year reached 88.3 million metric tons – an increase from 2023 at 84.5 million metric tons.

American LNG, driven in large part by Texas natural gas production, continues to be an essential resource for our allies, as nations work to meet heightened energy demand while shifting away from their dependence on Russian energy supplies. In 2025, LNG exports are expected to average 14 billion Bcf/d, an increase from the previous year. With President Trump’s reversal of the Biden Administration’s pause on permits for LNG export terminals, the U.S. oil and gas industry can resume its role as a reliable trade partner to our nation’s allies. TIPRO remains optimistic about the Trump-Vance Administration and the continued support of U.S. energy. The growth of domestic natural gas markets is closely reflected in increased U.S. LNG exports as well. The capacity to export LNG competitively on the global markets hinges upon the ability to maintain and grow production of natural gas domestically.

“In 2024, increases in natural gas production were essential to fulfilling rising energy demand within the U.S.,” said Ed Longanecker, president of TIPRO. “Thanks to record production, driven primarily by the Permian’s improved well-productivity, domestic demand was met, and natural gas continued to supply affordable and reliable power. We applaud the Texas oil and natural gas industry and the policymakers that understand its importance,” added Longanecker.

Following another outstanding year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook identified positive trends in 2025 for the United States oil and natural gas industry, including increases in production and consumption.

Additionally, Texas is experiencing a significant increase in electricity demand due to a surge in population and emerging industries such as data centers and artificial intelligence. By 2030, ERCOT anticipates that peak load could reach about 152 GW — almost doubling its historic record—posing both challenges and opportunities for the grid’s future stability and growth. Experts predict that ERCOT will continue to rely on natural gas’ share of electricity generation for load growth, accounting for approximately 30.3 percent of the grid’s total generation in 2025 and 33.9 percent of generation by 2030.

Given the U.S. power sector’s sustained reliance on natural gas for electricity generation, the occurrence of severe weather events that require dispatchable generation, and the electrification of our economy, natural gas is set to remain a critical energy resource for the power sector in the coming year, reinforced TIPRO.

What does Oil & Gas mean for Texas?

• Texas led the nation in oil and gas jobs with 480,460 people employed in this industry. 23 percent of all oil and gas jobs nationwide were located in Texas last year.
• When incorporating direct, indirect, and induced multipliers for oil and gas employment, the industry supported a total of 2,773,201 jobs in Texas last year.
• Total diversity percentage for the Texas oil and natural gas industry was 51 percent in 2024. 27 percent of Texas oil and gas workers were female, 34 percent of the positions were held by Hispanic or Latino workers, and 9 percent by Black or African American employees last year.
• Five percent of the workforce were between the ages of 22-24 years old, 21 percent were 25-34, 27 percent were 35-44, 22 percent were 45-54, 15 percent were 55-64 and 6 percent were 65 or older.
• The top five positions held by workers in the Texas oil and gas industry in 2024 were Cashiers (12.4 percent), General and Operations Managers (4.5 percent), Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas (4.1 percent), Oil & Gas Roustabouts (3.9 percent), Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (3.6 percent).
• Texas was the leading state by employment in 16 out of the 19 sectors used to define the oil and natural gas industry in 2024.
• Oil and gas jobs in Texas paid an annual average wage of $128,876, 74 percent more than all average private sector jobs in the state. The highest average industry wages were in Alaska last year ($146,664). Iowa had the lowest average oil and gas wages in the country ($35,265).
• Texas had the highest oil and gas payroll in the country in 2024 ($62 billion), with California coming in at a distant second ($15 billion), followed by Louisiana ($10 billion).
• Texas had the highest number of oil and gas businesses in the nation last year with 23,549, followed by California (9,486), Florida (7,695), Georgia (6,453) and New York (5,768).
• Oil production in Texas reached a new record of over 2 billion barrels in 2024. New Mexico had the second highest oil production with 737 million barrels, followed by North Dakota with 436 million barrels produced, subject to revisions.
• Texas led the country in natural gas production with a record 12.7 Tcf produced in 2024, followed by Pennsylvania with 7.3 Tcf.
• Texas had the highest rig count in the country in 2024 with an average of 290 active rigs. The number of rigs in Texas decreased from a high of 316 in January to 276 in December. New Mexico had the second highest average rig count (97) in the country last year.
• In 2024, direct Gross Regional Product for the Texas oil and natural gas industry was $366 billion. Once you incorporate the typical multiplier of 2.5x, the Texas oil and natural gas industry supported 38 percent of the Texas economy.
• The Texas oil and natural gas industry purchased U.S. goods and services in the amount of $307 billion, 81 percent of which came from Texas businesses.
• The Texas oil and natural gas industry paid a record $27.3 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties in Fiscal Year 2024.

The “State of Energy Report” series is published exclusively by TIPRO. A full list of the data sources used to develop this analysis can be viewed in the methodology section of the report.

Visit https://tipro.org/2025-state-of-energy/ to view TIPRO’s new “State of Energy Report.”