Texas' Oil Production Increased Nearly 30 Percent Over the Last Year

HOUSTON, Texas — Texas’ oil production is up 29 percent from this time last year, according to the Texas Railroad Commission. The state currently produces 2.16 barrels of oil each day.

New drilling technology has shifted the focus of the oil industry, and helped bolster a boom in Texas’ Eagle Ford  Shale and Permian Basin. According to the Dallas Morning News, the Texas Railroad Commission issued 2,419 drilling permits in July–a steep uptick from this time last year which indicates that Texas’ oil boom isn’t slowing anytime soon. 

Just five years ago, Texas only produced about 1.1 million barrels of oil each day. 

Currently, more than half of the nation’s growth in gas and oil over the last year took place in Texas and Oklahoma. Texas alone has almost reached the production level of Iraq, the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Josiah Neeley, a Policy Analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation told Breitbart Texas that a bust isn’t likely end the state’s gas and oil boom anytime soon. The only immediate threat to the industry, according to Neeley, is government regulation. 

He said, “Is a gas and oil ‘bust’ coming? That’s a political question more than a natural resources question. Estimates state that there are enough resources under the ground to allow the oil and gas boom to continue and get bigger. The potential danger has to do with regulations that could potentially be instated.”

If Texas turned blue, due to rapid migration there from liberal states like California, the booming industry could face a threat. 

Neeley continued, “The state can place all sorts of restrictions on oil and gas development. … The political environment in Texas is very important. If the voting populous changes, that environment could also change.”

As it  stands, the industry has allowed Texas to maintain a relatively low unemployment rate as businesses rapidly expand–some cities, like Midland, only see about 3.2 percent of their population without a job.

Breitbart Texas has reported extensively on the growing trend of millenials ditching the tech scene in Silicon Valley to become Texas oilmen. As a fresh generation and new technology grab hold of the humming industry simultaneously, conventional drilling is expected to die out with baby boomers. 

If left largely unregulated, the industry will continue to provide lucrative opportunities for thousands of Americans. 

Follow Kristin Tate @KristinBTate.