Both crude oil and natural gas prices decrease in March

Posted by Dwight Steward, Ph.D. and Ryan Willett | Industry

prices_2015_03

WTI crude oil price decreased from $49.84 per barrel in February 2015 to $48.66 per barrel in March 2015. Natural gas price fell from $2.79 per million BTU (one million BTU is approximately 974 cubic feet) in February 2015 to $2.64 per million BTU in March 2015.

production_2015_01

Texas crude oil production for January 2015 was 68,949,268 barrels, down from 77,599,222 barrels reported in December 2014. Texas natural gas production was 607,631,634 Mcf (thousand cubic feet) of gas in January 2015, down from the December 2014 gas production total of 674,495,129 Mcf.

Sources: eia.gov, rrc.state.tx.us

texas-oil-and-gas-image

The oil and gas extraction industry in Texas lost 1,100 jobs from January 2015 to February 2015. Compared to February 2014, the cumulative number of jobs added in this industry is 1,400, an increase of 1.4%.

Source: http://www.tracer2.com/admin/uploadedPublications/2133_TLMR-March_15.pdf

Image Source: http://www.eliteexploration.com/texas-oil-gas-companies/

Natural gas prices decrease while crude oil prices rise in February

Posted by Dwight Steward, Ph.D. and Ryan Willett | Industry

prices_2015_2

WTI crude oil price increased from $47.79 per barrel in January 2015 to $53.56 per barrel mid February 2015. Natural gas price fell from $2.88 per million BTU (one million BTU is approximately 974 cubic feet) in January 2015 to $2.75 per million BTU mid February 2015.

production_2014_11

Texas crude oil production for December 2014 was 67,660,682 barrels, down from 74,910,932 barrels reported in November 2014. Texas natural gas production was 600,389,620 Mcf (thousand cubic feet) of gas in December 2014, down from the November 2014 gas production total of 675,593,444 Mcf.

Sources: eia.gov, rrc.state.tx.us

texas-oil-and-gas-image

The oil and gas extraction industry in Texas gained 600 jobs from November 2014 to December 2014. Compared to December 2013, the cumulative number of jobs added in this industry is 5,600, an increase of 5.2%.

Source: http://www.tracer2.com/admin/uploadedPublications/2127_TLMR-January_15.pdf

Image Source: http://www.eliteexploration.com/texas-oil-gas-companies/

texas-oil-and-gas-image

The oil and gas extraction industry in Texas gained 600 jobs from November 2014 to December 2014. Compared to December 2013, the cumulative number of jobs added in this industry is 5,600, an increase of 5.2%.

Source: http://www.tracer2.com/admin/uploadedPublications/2127_TLMR-January_15.pdf

Image Source: http://www.eliteexploration.com/texas-oil-gas-companies/

In this post, we look at the weekly overtime (OT) hours typically worked by those who are in the support activities for mining subsector. This subsector is part of the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector, and is further defined below by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):

“Industries in the Support Activities for Mining subsector group establishments primarily providing support services, on a contract or fee basis, required for the mining and quarrying of minerals and for the extraction of oil and gas. Establishments performing exploration (except geophysical surveying and mapping) for minerals, on a contract or fee basis, are included in this subsector. Exploration includes traditional prospecting methods, such as taking core samples and making geological observations at prospective sites.”

-North American Industry Classification System

Many of the employees that work in these jobs are not exempt from FLSA overtime pay and earn 1.5 times pay for hours worked over 40 in a given week.

The tabulations below are based on U.S. BLS survey data. The BLS job title groups are insightful, generally containing more specific job titles with similar knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA), but can be more broad than a particular company’s job title listing. Also, some companies may have the job title listed here as exempt from FLSA or state OT due to their specific job assignments. The BLS does not make a distinction as to if the job title is exempt or non-exempt from OT.

Job Title Percent of OT Workers Average Hours of OT 1 out of every 4 (25%) OT workers works at least:
Support Activities for Mining 50.19% 22.55 hours 80 hours

Source: BLS (CPS March)

prices_2014_12

WTI crude oil price decreased from $78.77 per barrel in November 2014 to $68.98 per barrel at the start of December 2014. Natural gas price rose from $3.82 per million BTU (one million BTU is approximately 974 cubic feet) in November 2014 to $4.30 per million BTU to start off December 2014.

production_2014_09

Texas crude oil production for September 2014 was 65,824,450 barrels, down from 75,669,936 barrels reported in August 2014. Texas natural gas production was 595,603,581 Mcf (thousand cubic feet) of gas in September 2014, down from the August 2014 gas production total of 668,465,202 Mcf.

Sources: eia.gov, rrc.state.tx.us

texas-oil-and-gas-image

The oil and gas extraction industry in Texas gained 300 jobs from September 2014 to October 2014. Compared to October 2013, the cumulative number of jobs added in this industry is 8,200, an increase of 7.8%.

Source: http://www.tracer2.com/admin/uploadedPublications/2121_TLMR-November_14.pdf

Image Source: http://www.eliteexploration.com/texas-oil-gas-companies/

Current gas prices at four year low

Posted by Dwight Steward, Ph.D. | U.S. Economy

Gas prices continue to fall and are about where they were in Feb. 2010.   The graph below shows gas prices of regular gas in Austin, Texas and Los Angeles, California from December 1, 2004 to December 1, 2014.

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