Texas Petro Index from petroleum economist Karr Ingham declined in July for the 17th consecutive month to 154.5 despite the fact that crude oil prices have rebounded from low prices in April. The index (base 100.0 January 1995) is down from a revised 159.2 in June and down nearly 25 percent in the past year from 205.4 in July 2019. Ingham said rig counts continue to fall, averaging a record low of 106 for July, and the industry continues to shed jobs. Upstream oil and gas employment in Texas lost more than 69,000 jobs since peaking in December 2018, including 49,000 since February 2020.
After peaking in March with more than 5.4 million b/d, production of crude oil declined by 19 percent through May. Ingham said production now is rising again, however, as wells are restarting. But he added, “Prices will likely keep production levels depressed. Simply restarting wells that were shut down in March, April and May will not raise production to pre-covid levels, and new drilling activity is certainly insufficient to replace declining production in existing wells.”