While Oklahoma may be famous for its sweeping plains, beneath them lies an economic powerhouse, with the state's crude oil production surging to a record 899,000 barrels per day in 2023, fueling billions for the state budget and supporting one in every eight jobs statewide.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, Oklahoma's crude oil production averaged 833,000 barrels per day, making it the 4th largest oil-producing state in the U.S.
- Oklahoma produced 304 million barrels of crude oil in the first half of 2023, up 12% from the previous year
- The SCOOP/STACK plays in Oklahoma accounted for over 60% of the state's total crude oil production in 2022
- In 2023, Oklahoma's natural gas production totaled 7.4 trillion cubic feet, ranking 5th in the U.S.
- The Haynesville Shale extension into Oklahoma produced 1.2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas in 2023
- Oklahoma's marketed natural gas production grew 8% year-over-year to 6.9 Tcf in 2022
- Oklahoma employed 285,000 workers directly and indirectly in the oil and gas sector in 2022
- The average annual wage in Oklahoma's oil and gas extraction industry was $112,500 in 2023, 2.5 times the state average
- Over 45,000 jobs were in oil and gas extraction in Oklahoma as of 2023
- The oil and natural gas industry generated $14.2 billion in personal income for Oklahomans in 2022
- Energy sector taxes and royalties contributed $1.8 billion to Oklahoma's state budget in FY2023
- Oklahoma's energy industry paid $4.5 billion in property taxes in 2022, 40% of statewide total
- Oklahoma had 172 active oil and gas rigs drilling in Q4 2023, ranking 4th nationally
- The state has over 500,000 active oil and gas wells as of 2023
- Oklahoma's pipeline mileage totals 45,000 miles for natural gas gathering lines
Oklahoma's energy industry is booming with strong production and major economic contributions statewide.
Economic Impact
- The oil and natural gas industry generated $14.2 billion in personal income for Oklahomans in 2022
- Energy sector taxes and royalties contributed $1.8 billion to Oklahoma's state budget in FY2023
- Oklahoma's energy industry paid $4.5 billion in property taxes in 2022, 40% of statewide total
- The industry's economic output was $70 billion in 2022, 18% of Oklahoma's GDP
- Energy exports from Oklahoma totaled $25 billion in natural gas and oil products in 2023
- OERB invested $120 million in roads and bridges from energy royalties since 1993
- The multiplier effect of energy spending supported $42 billion in indirect economic activity in 2022
- Oklahoma households saved $1,200 on average in energy costs due to local production in 2023
- Energy firms invested $15 billion in capital expenditures in Oklahoma in 2022
- Severance taxes from oil and gas funded 25% of Oklahoma public schools in 2023, totaling $900 million
- In 2022, the energy industry contributed $28 billion to Oklahoma's GDP, representing 24% of the total state GDP
- Energy royalties distributed $1.1 billion to county governments in Oklahoma in FY2022
- The sector induced $8.7 billion in supplier and payroll spending in 2022
- Energy industry severance tax rate: 5% on oil, 7% on gas in OK 2023
- $2.3 billion in sales taxes from energy purchases in 2022 OK
- OERB funded $145 million in water projects from royalties 2023
- Tourism boost from energy: $500 million indirect in 2022
Economic Impact Interpretation
While Oklahoma's energy industry clearly fuels everything from state coffers to local roads, it's best to remember that this $70 billion economic engine is less a golden goose and more the entire farm—paying the mortgages, funding the schools, and keeping the lights on for just about everyone.
Employment
- Oklahoma employed 285,000 workers directly and indirectly in the oil and gas sector in 2022
- The average annual wage in Oklahoma's oil and gas extraction industry was $112,500 in 2023, 2.5 times the state average
- Over 45,000 jobs were in oil and gas extraction in Oklahoma as of 2023
- Oklahoma's energy sector supported 1 in 8 jobs statewide in 2022, totaling 312,000 positions
- 12,500 new jobs were added in Oklahoma's energy workforce from 2021 to 2023
- Women comprised 18% of Oklahoma's oil and gas workforce in 2023, up from 12% in 2018
- There were 5,200 drilling rig workers employed in Oklahoma in Q4 2023
- Oklahoma trained 3,500 energy workers through OERB programs in 2022
- Midstream sector employed 67,000 in Oklahoma, handling pipelines and processing
- Upstream exploration jobs numbered 28,000 in Oklahoma's energy industry in 2023
- Oklahoma's oil and gas supported 140,000 indirect jobs in manufacturing and services in 2023
- Average tenure for oilfield workers in Oklahoma is 8.5 years, with 65% holding vocational training
- 22,000 engineers and geoscientists work in Oklahoma's energy sector as of 2023
- Energy industry turnover rate in Oklahoma was 18% in 2022, lower than national average
- OERB scholarships awarded to 2,800 students pursuing energy-related degrees in 2023
- Midstream jobs grew 12% to 72,000 in Oklahoma from 2020-2023
- 9,500 truck drivers support energy logistics in Oklahoma annually
- 65,000 jobs in renewables and wind in OK 2023
- HSE training completed by 15,000 OK energy workers yearly
- Diversity: 25% minority workforce in OK energy 2023
- 4,200 apprenticeships in energy trades OK 2022
Employment Interpretation
Oklahoma's oil and gas sector is a high-paying, job-creating titan—funding one in eight state paychecks, employing everyone from 22,000 brainy engineers to 9,500 road-weary truckers—yet it’s shrewdly evolving, steadily adding women, diversifying into renewables, and betting on 2,800 students to help pry its future from the ground.
Infrastructure
- Oklahoma had 172 active oil and gas rigs drilling in Q4 2023, ranking 4th nationally
- The state has over 500,000 active oil and gas wells as of 2023
- Oklahoma's pipeline mileage totals 45,000 miles for natural gas gathering lines
- 25 natural gas processing plants operate in Oklahoma with capacity of 8 Bcf/d
- Cushing, Oklahoma, hub stored 70 million barrels of crude oil in 2023 peak
- Oklahoma wind capacity reached 10,243 MW in 2023, 42% of state electricity
- 1,200 miles of crude oil pipelines originate in Oklahoma
- 45 compression stations support natural gas transport in Oklahoma
- Oklahoma ranks 3rd in U.S. wind energy production with 40 TWh annually in 2023
- Oklahoma wind farms generated 11,000 GWh in Q1 2024
- 1,100 oil storage tanks with capacity 50 million barrels in Cushing OK 2023
- Plains All American pipeline moves 600,000 bpd from OK to Cushing
- Oklahoma has 18 refineries processing 700,000 bpd capacity
- 350,000 miles of distribution pipelines for gas in OK homes/businesses
- TransCanada Keystone XL bypassed OK but local lines carry 800k bpd
- Wind turbines: 4,500 units operating in Oklahoma 2023
Infrastructure Interpretation
Oklahoma may be quietly anchoring the nation's energy past with its web of pipelines and vast oil stores, but it's also loudly harnessing the future with enough wind turbines to blow its own legacy a serious, and surprisingly breezy, kiss.
Natural Gas Production
- In 2023, Oklahoma's natural gas production totaled 7.4 trillion cubic feet, ranking 5th in the U.S.
- The Haynesville Shale extension into Oklahoma produced 1.2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas in 2023
- Oklahoma's marketed natural gas production grew 8% year-over-year to 6.9 Tcf in 2022
- Canadian County produced 850 million cubic feet per day of natural gas in Q3 2023, leading Oklahoma counties
- STACK play natural gas output reached 3.5 Tcf annually in 2023
- Oklahoma's natural gas proved reserves were 34 trillion cubic feet at year-end 2022, 4th in the nation
- Average natural gas well in SCOOP produced 15 million cubic feet per day initially in 2023
- Oklahoma flared 2.5% of its natural gas production in 2022, totaling 180 billion cubic feet
- Natural gas processing plants in Oklahoma handled 7.1 Tcf in 2022
- Oklahoma exported 1.2 Tcf of natural gas via pipelines to other states in 2023
- Oklahoma natural gas gross withdrawals: 8.1 Tcf in 2022
- SCOOP play gas production: 2.8 Tcf/year in 2023
- Venting of natural gas in OK: 45 Bcf in 2022
- Oklahoma LNG export potential: 1 Bcf/d from new facilities planned 2024-2028
- Natural gas rig count averaged 120 in Oklahoma 2023
- Associated gas from oil wells: 40% of OK total gas production 2023
- Caddo County gas production: 650 MMcf/d in 2023
Natural Gas Production Interpretation
Oklahoma is quietly flexing as the nation's dependable gas station, sitting on a colossal reserve and pumping out enough energy to power half the country, all while managing to keep most of its product in the pipes instead of the atmosphere.
Oil Production
- In 2023, Oklahoma's crude oil production averaged 833,000 barrels per day, making it the 4th largest oil-producing state in the U.S.
- Oklahoma produced 304 million barrels of crude oil in the first half of 2023, up 12% from the previous year
- The SCOOP/STACK plays in Oklahoma accounted for over 60% of the state's total crude oil production in 2022
- Oklahoma's monthly crude oil production reached a record 899,000 barrels per day in October 2023
- From 2019 to 2023, Oklahoma's crude oil output increased by 45%, driven by horizontal drilling in the Anadarko Basin
- In 2022, Oklahoma's crude oil proved reserves stood at 1.1 billion barrels, ranking 6th nationally
- Grady County, Oklahoma, led the state with 147,000 barrels per day of crude oil production in 2023
- Oklahoma's crude oil production contributed $12.5 billion to state GDP in 2022
- The state's average crude oil well productivity in the Anadarko Basin was 1,200 barrels per day per well in 2023
- Oklahoma drilled 1,200 new crude oil wells in 2023, a 15% increase from 2022
- Oklahoma's crude oil production in Blaine County averaged 45,000 bpd in 2023
- Kingfisher County produced 120,000 bpd of crude oil, second highest in state 2023
- Anadarko Basin crude reserves estimated at 2.5 billion barrels recoverable in 2023
- Oklahoma's API gravity average for crude oil is 40 degrees, suitable for refining
- 75% of Oklahoma crude oil is horizontally drilled with fracking
- Monthly production in Woods County hit 35,000 bpd in Dec 2023
- Statewide rigless completions for oil: 450 in 2023
- Garfield County oil: 90k bpd 2023
- Major County oil peak: 25k bpd Q4 2023
Oil Production Interpretation
While still comfortably settled in fourth place nationally, Oklahoma's oil industry, with a record-breaking surge of 45% since 2019 and over 60% of its crude gushing from the prolific SCOOP/STACK plays, is clearly not content to just sit on its, albeit substantial, 1.1 billion barrels of reserves.
Sources & References
- Reference 1EIAeia.govVisit source
- Reference 2OERBoerb.comVisit source
- Reference 3OKLAHOMAoklahoma.govVisit source
- Reference 4OKENERGYTODAYokenergytoday.comVisit source
- Reference 5RIGCOUNTrigcount.bakerhughes.comVisit source
- Reference 6SHALEXPshalexp.comVisit source
- Reference 7BLSbls.govVisit source
- Reference 8APIapi.orgVisit source
- Reference 9OKPOLICYokpolicy.orgVisit source
- Reference 10PHMSAphmsa.dot.govVisit source
- Reference 11EMPemp.lbl.govVisit source
- Reference 12BEAbea.govVisit source
- Reference 13IMPLANimplan.comVisit source
- Reference 14INGAAingaa.orgVisit source
- Reference 15USGSusgs.govVisit source
- Reference 16RIGDATArigdata.comVisit source
- Reference 17SPGLOBALspglobal.comVisit source
- Reference 18PLAINSplains.comVisit source
- Reference 19AWWAawwa.orgVisit source