Chugging along
State energy index increased in May
Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry added more jobs in May thanks to strong crude oil prices, the latest Oklahoma Energy Index released Wednesday showed.
The index reports the oil and gas energy production industry added 200 employees in May, bringing the total number working in the field to 51,900.
It also reports the number of Oklahomans employed by businesses supporting the energy production industry stayed steady at 30,100, compared to the previous month’s count.
“Overall, industry activity was up 2 percent, compared to a month earlier” said Russell Evans, executive director of the Steven C. Agee Economic Research and Policy Institute at Oklahoma City University.
“It continues to chug along, and is posting steady, overall gains for the industry.”
Also, Evans, continued, the improved economy continues to impact tax coffers for both the state and local governmental entities through the collection of gross production and sales taxes.
“And, there’s growth in other industries that aren’t directly related to either oil and natural gas production or directly support it.
“Those jobs are captured in sectors like manufacturing, wholesale trade, transportation and professional service. They aren’t reflected in the index, but we are confident jobs in those sectors are benefiting from the oil and gas activity going on in the state right now.”
The index, calculated by the institute and the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, considers the average monthly employment numbers for the oil and gas energy production industry and the businesses supporting the oil and gas energy industry.
It considers the average monthly number of working drilling rigs and a given month’s average pricing for natural gas and oil.
It also considers the average monthly value of a portfolio of stocks for publicly traded oil and natural gas related production and midstream companies based inside of Oklahoma.
The formula used to create the index generates a number which can be compared to 100, the number representing the average monthly index calculated in 2000.
The index number in May was 217.1, up 14.3 percent over May 2017.
Major contributing factors, the data shows, were the average price of oil, which was up 44.3 percent compared to the same time a year earlier and the value of the stocks portfolio, which was up more than 20 percent, year over year.
The data showed employment for the energy production industry was up 10 percent, year over year, while employment within the support industry had climbed more than 16 percent during the same period.
While Evans said Wednesday the growing employment numbers show the state’s oil and gas sector continues to bounce back from its most recent downturn, he added the pace of job growth is slowing as the recovery continues.
Various industry experts have observed that recent technological and mechanical advances in the oil and gas field have made operations less labor intensive, reducing the need for companies to hire as many employees or units to provide them with drilling, completion and related services.