The oil and natural gas industry has dominated Houston’s job market for decades, but Houston Chronicle reports the industry’s reign over Houston is “waning as the industry consolidates and slashes its spending.”
Reuters said, “Houston is expected to take a significant hit as Shell moves to cut 20 percent of its global oil and gas development and exploration division.” Industry officials told the Chronicle the proposed cuts point to a larger trend of energy giants spending less on geoscience and exploratory drilling needed to discover and develop new oil reserves. The industry’s share of the city’s overall workforce is falling as companies consolidate.
Oil and gas companies currently employ about 290,000 people in Houston – down from about 350,000 jobs at the industry’s employment peak in 2014. That year the industry employed more people than any other segment in Houston, but it now ranks fifth behind health care, retail, hospitality and government.