Texas Relies Heavily on the Oil and Gas Industry

January 15, 2021

In 2020, the Texas oil and gas industry paid $13.9 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties. While this number is down from 2019, where the industry paid $16.3 billion in taxes and state royalties, it is still a large sum of money that goes back into the state. Todd Staples, President of Texas Oil & Gas Association reflects on the past year.

“As challenging as last year was, the Texas oil and natural gas industry contributed tremendously to state and local tax coffers. This revenue from oil and natural gas production, pipelines, refineries and LNG facilities translates into about $38 million each day that pay for our schools, universities, roads, first responders and essential services.”

Showing once again how critical the oil and gas industry is to Americans and local communities. Not only do businesses and households rely on the energy the industry provides, but state budgets rely heavily on the revenue the sector brings in. Not to mention the millions of jobs the industry supports.

“The industry employed 400,974 Texans during financial year 2020, the association said, noting that every direct job in the Texas oil and natural gas industry creates an additional 2.4 Texas jobs.”

This a great reminder of how important the oil and gas industry is and that even with a global pandemic that shook the sector it remained essential to state economies. We hope our elected officials keep in mind further regulations and federal overreach to the industry will hurt many state budgets, and in return hurt the American people.