According to these reports, oil and natural gas development supported over 352,000 direct jobs in Texas last year, an increase of more than 26,700 year-over-year. Oil and gas companies also paid over $14 billion in state and local taxes and royalties in fiscal year 2018 – a 27 percent increase.

TIPRO’s comprehensive “State of Energy Report” contains a range of data showing how vital oil and natural gas development is to the Texas economy. Texas continues to lead oil and natural gas employment in the United States, accounting for about 40 percent of direct oil and gas jobs nationally. Further, the state is home to 11,757 oil and gas related businesses, representing about 29 percent of all oil and gas businesses across the country. Overall, direct oil and natural gas employment alone accounts for 2.6 percent of all private sector employment in Texas.

According to the report, oil and gas jobs in Texas paid an annual average wage of $130,706 – that’s 134 percent more than the average private sector job in the state. Further, Texas had the highest oil and gas payroll in the country in 2018 at $46 billion, which is five times larger than the second-place state, California, at $8.9 billion.

TIPRO’s report also notes that Texas oil and natural gas production is continuing to soar. In 2018, Texas totaled a record 1.54 billion barrels of oil produced. Not only does this level of production best the previous record of 1.28 billion barrels set it in 1973, it did so at a remarkable pace, as Texas oil production increased 277 million barrels in just one year. Natural gas, too, saw amazing growth, jumping 10 percent to 8.8 trillion cubic feet in 2018.

Considering this production growth and massive employment numbers, it would make sense that Texas oil and natural gas is also a major contributor to state revenue, as shown by TXOGA’s latest report. According to TXOGA, Texas oil and natural gas companies paid the equivalent of $38 million per day in state revenue, helping to fund Texas schools, roads and first responders. More incredible still, the report finds that from 2007 to 2018, oil and natural gas companies paid $133 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties.

TXOGA’s report also breaks out just how impactful this oil and natural gas revenue is for Texas schools and higher education.

In fiscal year 2018, Texas school districts received $1.28 billion from oil and gas related property taxes, which includes properties producing oil and natural gas, pipelines and gas utilities. In addition, state royalties paid by the oil and natural gas industry totaled $2 billion. This revenue funds the state’s Permanent School Fund (PSF), which supports public schools, and the Permanent University Fund (PUF), which benefits Texas universities. In fact, this latest contribution helped the PUF reach $44 billion by the end of fiscal year 2018, making it the largest education endowment in the country.

Finally, the report notes that oil and natural gas mineral property taxes provided $366.5 million to Texas counties in the 2018 fiscal year. This revenue helps fund local infrastructure such as roads and bridges, as well as emergency services that keep the community safe and healthy.