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Oil and Gas Extraction: NAICS 211

About the Oil and Gas Extraction subsector

The oil and gas extraction subsector is part of the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector.

Industries in the Oil and Gas Extraction subsector operate and/or develop oil and gas field properties. Such activities may include exploration for crude petroleum and natural gas; drilling, completing, and equipping wells; operating separators, emulsion breakers, desilting equipment, and field gathering lines for crude petroleum and natural gas; and all other activities in the preparation of oil and gas up to the point of shipment from the producing property. This subsector includes the production of crude petroleum, the mining and extraction of oil from oil shale and oil sands, and the production of natural gas, sulfur recovery from natural gas, and recovery of hydrocarbon liquids.

North American Industry Classification System

The oil and gas extraction subsector consists of a single industry group, Oil and Gas Extraction: NAICS 2111.

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in oil and gas extraction. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment


Data series	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023	Oct. 2023
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	118.3	118.7	(p)118.8	(p)119.1
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees	77.3	80.1	(p)81.7
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2022
Geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers	1,700
Petroleum engineers	5,360
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers	3,020
Roustabouts, oil and gas	(1)-
Wellhead pumpers	9,340
Footnotes (1) Estimate not released.

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for oil and gas extraction.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in oil and gas extraction.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees


Data series	Jun. 2023	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023
Average hourly earnings	$50.00	$49.94	$49.78	(p)$49.25
Average weekly hours	42.1	41.4	40.8	(p)41.8
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Jun. 2023	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023
Average hourly earnings	$42.81	$43.11	$43.34	(p)$43.65
Average weekly hours	40.7	42.0	40.3	(p)41.7
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2022
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers	67.79	70.03	140,990	145,660
Petroleum engineers	74.43	74.98	154,810	155,960
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers	37.47	38.84	77,940	80,790
Roustabouts, oil and gas	20.51	25.80	42,650	53,660
Wellhead pumpers	35.81	33.54	74,480	69,770

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in oil and gas extraction. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.


Data series	2018	2019	2020	2021
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	13	22	7	6
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.


Data series	2022
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	0.8
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	0.5
Cases involving days away from work	0.3
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	0.2
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Prices

This section provides industry-specific pricing information. The producer price index measures the percentage change in prices that domestic producers receive for goods and services. The prices included in the producer price index are from the first commercial transaction.


Data series	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023	Oct. 2023
Producer price index	(p)189.536	(p)201.252	(p)218.041	(p)215.521
Percent change from previous month	(p)12.3%	(p)6.2%	(p)8.3%	(p)-1.2%
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in oil and gas extraction. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.

Establishments


Data series	2nd quarter 2022	3rd quarter 2022	4th quarter 2022	1st quarter 2023
Number of establishments
Private industry	6,426	6,417	6,432	(p)6,417
Local government	1	1	1	(p)1
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity


Data series	2019	2020	2021	2022
Labor productivity index, output per hour	237.598	262.623	307.856	286.736
Percent change from previous year	7.0	10.5	17.2	-6.9
Labor index, total labor hours	73.827	62.912	53.908	60.841
Percent change from previous year	4.6	-14.8	-14.3	12.9
Output index	175.412	165.220	165.959	174.453
Percent change from previous year	11.9	-5.8	0.4	5.1
Unit labor costs index	50.431	49.277	42.026	46.350
Percent change from previous year	-4.9	-2.3	-14.7	10.3

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Data extracted on: November 21, 2023