Oil exploration and production companies in Texas added 2,800 jobs in August as the industry continues to recover from the pandemic-driven oil bust. The state’s upstream sector has recovered 19,700 jobs since employment bottomed out a year ago, about a third of the 60,000 jobs lost during the pandemic last year. The state has 178,500 drilling and extraction workers, according to data from the Texas Workforce Commission and analyzed by the Texas Oil and Gas Association, an industry trade group. “Oil and natural gas jobs pay among the highest wages in Texas, so job growth in this sector not only bolsters our economy and energy security, but also has a tremendous, positive impact for thousands of Texas families,” TXOGA President Todd Staples said in a statement. “Every direct oil and natural gas job in Texas generates an additional 3 jobs elsewhere in the state’s economy.” Oil companies laid off […]