Record high for Texas oil

Crude oil production in Texas hit a record last year, besting the previous mark set in the 1970s, according to an industry report.

Texas oil wells produced more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude in 2018, beating the previous record of about 1.3 billion set in 1973, the Texas Independent Producers Royalty Owners reported Monday. Natural gas production also rose, to about 8.8 trillion cubic feet in 2018.

Oil companies produced record amounts of oil despite a 40 percent commodity price drop in the last three months of 2018. Prices fell from about $76 a barrel in early October to about $42 in late December. Oil settled in New York on Monday at $52.41 a barrel.

Employment in the oil and gas industry also rose last year, according to the Texas Independent Producers Royalty Owners. Nationally, industry employment rose 5 percent to more than 880,000 jobs. Texas accounted for more than 350,000 of those jobs, or about 40 percent.

Texas added more than 27,000 oil and gas jobs last year.