Good Times Ahead For The Oil And Gas Industry

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Growing indications that the oil and gas industry is wobbling back onto its feet are visible. The month of November 2016 saw a considerable increase in the number of oil and gas extraction jobs. In addition, the number of rigs that are active have also increased significantly. Read on to learn more about this encouraging news.

 Increase In Oil And Gas Extraction Jobs In November

The month of November 2016 saw an increase of 3300 jobs in oil and gas extraction and support services. This was the first major increase in 2 years, since 2014, when employment numbers were high. Oil companies in Texas are expected to hire more number of people for a variety of positions to support their exploration and drilling activities.

According to a recent news article:

“Combined oil and gas extraction and support services jobs increased by 3300 to 384,300 in November, its first increase since September 2014 when employment in the sector peaked at 536,100, according US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data.”

Industry To Add Rigs In 2017 and 2018, Analysts Predict

Experts predict that the oil and gas industry will continue to add rigs this year and the next. This is promising news for candidates who are hopeful of landing jobs in the oil and gas industry. Exploration and production companies are going to increase their spending next year. The decision of the OPEC and non-OPEC producers to reduce the oil output in the first half of this year is likely to help the oil prices stabilize.

Rakesh Upadhyay said in a recent article on oilprice.com:

“The good news is that the industry will continue to add rigs both in 2017 and 2018, according to analysts from Simmons & Co, energy specialists for U.S. investment bank Piper Jaffray. They forecast the number of active oil and gas rigs to average 763 in 2017 and 877 in 2018, a considerable increase from the average 509 in 2016, reports Reuters.”

Reduced output of oil should help in increasing the price of oil, encouraging rig explorers and production companies to spend more. More than 200 oil rigs have been added over the past six months and drilling is also expected to increase in 2017 and 2018.

The recovery in shale oil prices is expected to continue for the next two years as well. This signals a positive trend that will benefit candidates who are interested in pursuing careers in oil and gas.

The increase in oil and gas extraction jobs in the month of November 2016 is an indication of better days ahead in 2017 and 2018. With more number of rigs being added every month, laid off oil and gas workers can expect to find well-paying jobs in the oil and gas industry.