Fueled by staggering numbers like 2.3 million barrels refined daily and nearly 600,000 local jobs, Houston doesn't just participate in the oil and gas industry—it serves as the throbbing heart and strategic brain of the entire American energy landscape.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, Texas oil production reached 1.81 billion barrels, with Houston-area operations contributing significantly to refining over 40% of U.S. Gulf Coast crude
- Houston's refineries processed 2.3 million barrels per day of crude oil in 2023, accounting for 15% of national refining capacity
- The Eagle Ford Shale, accessible from Houston, produced 108 million barrels of oil in Q4 2022 alone
- The Houston metro area employed 585,000 people in oil and gas in 2022, representing 12% of total employment
- Oil and gas support activities in Houston employed 120,000 workers in 2021
- ExxonMobil's Houston HQ supports 10,000 direct jobs and 40,000 indirect in 2023
- Houston's oil and gas industry generated $100 billion in GDP for Texas in 2022
- Energy sector taxes from Houston ops contributed $20 billion to Texas state revenue in 2023
- Houston metro oil/gas exports totaled $150 billion in goods in 2022
- ExxonMobil headquartered in Houston with 70,000 global employees but $413 billion assets managed locally in 2023
- Chevron relocated HQ to Houston in 2023, operating 1,000 wells in Permian via local teams
- Shell's Houston campus oversees 50,000 employees worldwide and Gulf Coast LNG
- Houston Ship Channel hosts 140 miles of pipelines transporting 10 million bpd
- Houston has 15 major refineries with combined capacity over 3 million bpd in 2023
- Port of Houston handles 80 million tons of petrochemicals annually
Houston is America's energy hub, producing and refining massive volumes of oil and gas.
Economic Contribution
- Houston's oil and gas industry generated $100 billion in GDP for Texas in 2022
- Energy sector taxes from Houston ops contributed $20 billion to Texas state revenue in 2023
- Houston metro oil/gas exports totaled $150 billion in goods in 2022
- Petrochemical output from Houston valued at $80 billion annually in 2023
- Houston LNG exports generated $25 billion in revenue for firms in 2022
- Oilfield services market in Houston worth $50 billion in 2023 contracts
- Houston refining margins averaged $15 per barrel profit in 2022
- Texas severance taxes from Houston production: $15.5 billion in FY2022
- Houston real estate for energy firms valued at $30 billion in 2023
- Energy trading volume in Houston hit $1.5 trillion notional in 2022
- Houston suppliers to oil/gas generated $40 billion in sales 2023
- Property taxes from Houston refineries: $2.5 billion annually
- Venture capital into Houston energy tech: $3 billion in 2022
- Houston port oil/gas cargo value: $90 billion in 2023
- Multiplier effect of oil/gas jobs in Houston: $120,000 output per employee in 2022
- Houston philanthropy from energy execs: $500 million donated in 2023
- Insurance premiums for Houston oil risks: $10 billion market in 2022
- Houston construction for energy projects: $15 billion spent in 2023
- Royalties paid to Texas landowners from Houston ops: $5 billion in 2022
- Houston hotel revenue from energy conferences: $1.2 billion in 2023
- Equity investments in Houston upstream: $20 billion raised in 2022
- ExxonMobil reported $55.7 billion profit from Houston-led ops in 2022
- Chevron's Houston downstream contributed $30 billion revenue 2023
- ConocoPhillips dividends from Houston assets: $10 billion paid 2022
- BP's Houston trading desk generated $20 billion turnover 2023
Economic Contribution Interpretation
Even by Texas standards, Houston's oil and gas industry is less a goose laying golden eggs and more a dragon hoarding a kingdom's entire treasury, casually breathing fire that warms the state's coffers, fuels global markets, and quite literally builds the city around it.
Employment and Workforce
- The Houston metro area employed 585,000 people in oil and gas in 2022, representing 12% of total employment
- Oil and gas support activities in Houston employed 120,000 workers in 2021
- ExxonMobil's Houston HQ supports 10,000 direct jobs and 40,000 indirect in 2023
- Chevron's Houston workforce totals 9,000 employees in upstream and downstream
- Halliburton's Houston facilities employ 6,500 in services sector as of 2022
- Schlumberger (SLB) has 7,000 Houston-based staff in 2023
- Baker Hughes employs 10,000 in Houston for equipment manufacturing in 2022
- Occidental Petroleum's Houston office staffs 2,500 in Permian ops
- Houston oil traders numbered 15,000 in commodity firms in 2021
- Engineering jobs in Houston oil/gas grew 5% to 45,000 in 2022
- Pipeline operators in Houston metro employed 8,000 in 2023
- Houston's refineries directly employ 25,000 workers in 2022
- Petrochemical plants in Houston area staff 30,000 in production roles
- ConocoPhillips Houston HQ has 4,000 employees focused on Lower 48
- Offshore rig workers commuting from Houston total 12,000 annually
- Houston geoscientists in oil/gas numbered 18,000 in 2021 BLS data
- LNG terminal operations in Houston employ 3,500 skilled workers in 2023
- Houston frac crew jobs reached 15,000 amid shale boom in 2022
- Data analysts in Houston energy firms totaled 10,000 in 2023
- Houston welders for pipelines and rigs: 22,000 employed in 2022
- Executives in Houston oil majors: 5,000 C-suite and managers in 2021
- Houston safety inspectors in oil/gas: 4,200 certified in 2023
- Trucking for oilfield services in Houston: 18,000 drivers in 2022
- Houston electricians in refineries: 12,000 jobs in 2023
- Supply chain roles in Houston energy: 35,000 positions filled 2022
- Houston apprenticeships in oil/gas trained 2,500 workers in 2023
Employment and Workforce Interpretation
While Houston's economy has diversified with space and medical marvels, the oil and gas industry remains the city's economic bedrock, employing nearly 600,000 people—from geoscientists and refinery electricians to frac crews and executives—proving that despite its volatile reputation, this industry is still very much the crude that greases the city's wheels.
Infrastructure and Exploration
- Houston Ship Channel hosts 140 miles of pipelines transporting 10 million bpd
- Houston has 15 major refineries with combined capacity over 3 million bpd in 2023
- Port of Houston handles 80 million tons of petrochemicals annually
- Houston's LNG export capacity totals 40 mtpa from five terminals in 2023
- IAH airport services 500 daily energy exec flights for exploration
- Houston's 1,200 miles of intrastate pipelines move 5 bcf/d gas
- George Bush Intercontinental hosts energy heliport for 10,000 Gulf flights yearly
- Houston data centers process 1 petabyte daily seismic data for exploration
- Barbers Hill salt dome stores 200 million barrels strategic reserve near Houston
- Houston's 50 frac sand terminals supply 100 million tons yearly
- Gulf Coast carbon capture pipelines from Houston span 500 miles in 2023
- Houston's 20 NGL fractionators process 2 million bpd
- Ellington Field supports 5,000 offshore worker flights monthly
- Houston's rail network hauls 50 million tons petroleum products yearly
- Advanced seismic surveys from Houston cover 10,000 sq miles Gulf OCS annually
- Houston's 100+ drilling rigs staged for Permian deployment
- Subsea tiebacks installed by Houston firms: 200 in Gulf since 2020
- Houston's hydrogen pipelines span 300 miles for refinery fuel
- 3D seismic data volume in Houston repositories: 50 petabytes in 2023
- Houston's offshore supply vessels fleet: 400 active in 2023
- CCUS hubs around Houston capture 5 million tpa CO2 in 2023 pilots
Infrastructure and Exploration Interpretation
The sheer scale of Houston's oil and gas ecosystem—from the massive infrastructure moving, storing, and refining it, to the vast data and transport networks hunting for it—is not just impressive logistics; it's the planet's circulatory system for hydrocarbons, complete with a burgeoning conscience trying to capture its own carbon footprint.
Major Companies and Operations
- ExxonMobil headquartered in Houston with 70,000 global employees but $413 billion assets managed locally in 2023
- Chevron relocated HQ to Houston in 2023, operating 1,000 wells in Permian via local teams
- Shell's Houston campus oversees 50,000 employees worldwide and Gulf Coast LNG
- Occidental acquired CrownRock for $12 billion in 2023, expanding Permian ops from Houston
- ConocoPhillips operates 2.1 million boe/d from Houston HQ in Lower 48
- BP's Houston facility manages $100 billion in U.S. assets including Whiting refinery
- Halliburton provides services to 80% of Houston-area rigs in 2023
- Schlumberger delivers drilling tech to 500 Houston-managed wells annually
- Baker Hughes supplies 10,000 turbomachinery units from Houston plants yearly
- Cheniere Energy's Corpus Christi LNG near Houston exported 10 mtpa in 2023
- Freeport LNG in Houston area produced 15 mtpa LNG in 2022
- Phillips 66's Sweeny refinery near Houston processes 270,000 bpd
- Marathon Petroleum's Galveston Bay refinery handles 631,000 bpd from Houston ops
- Valero's Houston refinery capacity is 360,000 bpd crude throughput
- Motiva Enterprises' Port Arthur plant processes 626,000 bpd managed from Houston
- Enterprise Products Partners pipelines 12 bcf/d gas from Houston HQ
- Kinder Morgan's Houston terminals store 100 million barrels NGLs
- Plains All American's Houston ops transport 7 million bpd crude
- EOG Resources drills 400 Eagle Ford wells yearly from Houston
- Devon Energy's Houston team manages Delaware Basin assets producing 200,000 boe/d
- Apache Corporation's Houston ops yield 400,000 boe/d from Permian
Major Companies and Operations Interpretation
Houston isn't just the oil capital; it’s the global brain trust, financial hub, and logistical maestro for an industry that, from this single zip code, quite literally fuels and forges the modern world.
Production Statistics
- In 2022, Texas oil production reached 1.81 billion barrels, with Houston-area operations contributing significantly to refining over 40% of U.S. Gulf Coast crude
- Houston's refineries processed 2.3 million barrels per day of crude oil in 2023, accounting for 15% of national refining capacity
- The Eagle Ford Shale, accessible from Houston, produced 108 million barrels of oil in Q4 2022 alone
- Permian Basin output, coordinated via Houston, hit 5.9 million barrels per day in 2023
- Houston's downstream sector handled 1.2 million barrels per day of natural gas liquids in 2022
- Texas natural gas production totaled 10.2 trillion cubic feet in 2022, with Houston firms extracting 30% via Haynesville Shale
- In 2021, Houston-area rigs drilled 1,200 new wells, yielding 450 million barrels equivalent
- Gulf of Mexico deepwater production from Houston-based platforms reached 1.1 million barrels per day in 2022
- Houston's petrochemical plants converted 500,000 barrels per day of feedstocks into products in 2023
- Texas proved oil reserves stood at 17.4 billion barrels in 2021, largely managed from Houston headquarters
- Houston's LNG export facilities shipped 1.8 billion cubic feet per day in 2022
- In 2023, Houston refineries achieved 92% utilization rate, processing 2.4 million bpd
- Eagle Ford gas production hit 2.1 bcf per day in 2022 from Houston ops
- Permian shale oil recovery rates improved to 8% via Houston tech in 2023
- Houston's midstream gathered 12 bcf per day of gas in 2022
- Gulf Coast ethane production from Houston plants was 1.2 million bpd in 2021
- Texas rig count averaged 300 in Houston districts in 2023
- Houston's fractionation capacity processed 950,000 bpd NGLs in 2022
- Haynesville Shale dry gas output was 13 bcf/d in 2023, Houston-managed
- Houston upstream firms drilled 800 horizontal wells in 2022
- U.S. oil imports refined in Houston totaled 1.5 million bpd in 2022
- Houston's propane exports reached 500,000 bpd via terminals in 2023
- Texas condensate production was 400,000 bpd in 2022, Houston-processed
- Houston area's CO2 injection for EOR sequestered 15 million tons in 2022
- Deepwater Gulf wells from Houston produced 300 million barrels in 2021
- Houston LNG terminals exported 70 million tons in 2022
- Permian associated gas flared 1.2 bcf/d managed from Houston in 2023
- Houston refineries produced 800,000 bpd gasoline in 2022
- Texas waterflood recovery boosted 200 million barrels via Houston tech in 2022
- Houston's oilfield services supported 1,500 frac stages in 2023
Production Statistics Interpretation
Houston doesn't just pump the numbers, it is the calculator, refinery, shipping department, and tech support for America's entire energy nervous system.
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