American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2024 - 79

wells remain nonproductive after five
years and establishes more control overextending
in perpetuity exemptions for plugging
that historically have allowed wells
to sit idle for four decades or longer.
Revenue from the fees can be used by
the Oilfield Site Restoration Program to
continue diligent efforts to plug orphaned
wells, leveraging additional benefits to
taxpayers, landowners and communities
across the state.
Louisiana also is creating new statelevel
revenue streams for orphaned well
closures. The state recently passed legislation
to create the Louisiana Natural
Resources Trust Authority. This will allow
the DENR to secure funding for future
abandonment operations by charging upfront
fees for new wells that will incorporate
an assessment of the operator's financial
risk profile.
Despite these challenges, states remain
committed to using IIJA and IRA funds
to address orphaned wells. New technologies
and increased federal support
make progress possible, but systemic
issues such as regulatory delays and data
gaps must be resolved for these programs
to reach their full potential. At the same
time, current owners of pipelines should
be prepared for increased scrutiny as
more resources are devoted to addressing
orphaned wells.
❒
TIPRO: Industry Jobs Resume Growth
AUSTIN, TX.-Citing the latest Current
Employment Statistics report from
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the
Texas Independent Producers & Royalty
Owners Association says employment
figures show growth in upstream employment
for July 2024. According to
TIPRO's analysis, direct Texas upstream
employment for July totaled 194,100, an
increase of 1,600 industry jobs from revised
June employment numbers.
TIPRO's latest workforce data yet
again indicated strong job postings for
the Texas oil and natural gas industry.
According to the association, there were
11,524 active unique jobs postings for
the Texas oil and natural gas industry in
July, including 3,641 new job postings
added during the month by companies.
In comparison, the state of California
had 4,453 unique job postings that month,
followed by Florida (2,471), New York
(1,662), Pennsylvania (1,606) and
Louisiana (1,593). TIPRO reported a
total of 59,766 unique job postings nationwide
last month within the oil and
natural gas sector.
Among the 19 specific industry sectors
TIPRO uses to categorize the Texas oil
and natural gas industry, gasoline stations
with convenience stores led in the ranking
for unique job listings in July with 2,820
postings, followed by support activities
for oil and gas operations (2,480) and
crude petroleum extraction (943). The
leading three cities by total unique oil
and natural gas job postings were Houston
(3,286), Midland (863) and Odessa (471),
TIPRO reports.
The top three companies ranked by
unique job postings in July were Love's
(985), Baker Hughes (623), and Cefco
(559), the association relates. Of the top
10 companies listed by unique job postings
in July, four companies were in the
services sector, four in the gasoline stations
with convenience stores category, one
was a midstream company and one was
an upstream company.
Top posted industry occupations for
SEPTEMBER 2024 79
July included retail salespersons (553),
first-line supervisors of retail sales workers
(424), and maintenance and repair workers,
general (381). The top posted job titles
for July included sales associates (224),
assistant store manager (142) and maintenance
technicians (120).
Top qualifications for unique job postings
included valid driver's license (1,823),
commercial driver's license (264) and
CDL Class A license (212). TIPRO
reports that 38% of unique job postings
had no education requirement listed, 34%
required a bachelor's degree and 30%
required a high school diploma or equivalent.
There were 2,291 advertised salary
observations (20% of the 11,524 matching
postings) with a median salary of $62,300.
The highest percentage of advertised
salaries (30%) were in the $90,000$500,000
range.
The top three posting sources in July
included www.indeed.com (5,115),
www.simplyhired.com (3,095) and
www.dejobs.org (1,827).
TIPRO also highlights data released
from the Texas comptroller's office showing
significant tax contributions provided
by the Texas oil and natural gas industry
during July. Of note, Texas energy producers
in that month paid $557 million
in oil production taxes, an impressive
http://www.indeed.com http://www.simplyhired.com http://www.dejobs.org http://haroldhammbook.com/
American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2024

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