Oil and gas hiring picks up in Houston as oil field activity expands, even as energy prices come down

On HoustonChronicle.com: Analysts say Permian oil and gas drilling permits hit three year high

The acceleration in Houston oil and gas payrolls follows expanding oil field activity, Thompson said. The number of operating drilling rigs in the United States was 763 this week, according to Houston oil field services company Baker Hughes, up from 501 a year ago — a 52 percent increase.

Statewide, oil and gas payrolls also grew at a healthy clip, particularly in West Texas, home to the Permian Basin, one of the world’s most productive oil fields. Most of the hiring has been for oil field jobs in the Permian and other producing regions since the sector began recovering from its pandemic downturn. As a result, oil and gas employment growth in Houston, where most of the jobs are in office towers and campuses, has lagged the rest of the state.

On HoustonChronicle.com: U.S. rig count falls by one as oil remains below $100 per barrel

“We’re the headquarters,” said Thompson. “We have a much larger share of white-collar jobs. No one was hiring office workers in 2021.”

The acceleration in Houston-area hiring comes as oil prices have spent much of past few months about $100 a barrel. Oil prices have retreated recently, at one point falling below $90 a barrel. On Friday, oil settled at $92.09 a barrel, down more than 2 percent.

Retail gasoline prices, which peaked at an average of $4.64 per gallon in the Houston area in mid-June, have fallen by more than a dollar since then to an average $3.57 a gallon, according to the fuel-price tracking service GasBuddy.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Why are gas prices falling?

Even with the recent declines, Thompson said, prices are still very high — more than enough for oil companies to make healthy profits. Historically, the break-even cost for drilling a new well comes when price of oil is around $50 a barrel, although ongoing labor shortages and inflation may pushed that point higher.

Still, while the recent slide in oil prices has meant “a big wallop in terms of total expected revenue,” Thompson said, producers are covering their costs and then some.

“Everything north of $70 dollars is gravy,” he said.