OKLAHOMA CITY  -  The oil and gas industry added 12,000 jobs in the last two years, according to a study released Wednesday commissioned by the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board.

The results of the study, done by The Steven C. Agee Economic Research and Policy Institute at Oklahoma City University, indicate one of six jobs in the state are in the oil and gas industry, which employs 344,000.
The industry pays nearly $1 billion in direct gross production tax payments. Of that, $504 million comes from oil gross production and $459 million on natural gas. The industry contributed $2.35 billion in federal personal income tax payments and $700 million in state personal income tax payments, the study found.
In the area of sales tax, it contributed $563 million, the study said. At the local level, in form of sales taxes to cities and counties, the figure was $503 million, the study said.
“All in all, the bottom line remains the same which is Oklahoma is very much an energy state, very much an oil and gas state that relies on the health of this industry to drive our secondary industries, like manufacturing, like business services and support,” said Russell Evans, executive director of The Steven C. Agee Economic Research and Policy Institute.

Texas has recovered all of the oil & gas jobs lost during the recession, while Oklahoma is about 99 percent of its pre-recession peak, Evans said.

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