Renewable jobs grow, oil and gas jobs slide in OK By EPN Staff Oklahoma remains one of the country’s largest oil and gas producers and plans to boost natural gas production in the next few years. But that expansion may not produce as many jobs as drilling once might have. Technological advances, such as automation and outsourcing, have supplanted some industry jobs in recent years during the post-pandemic recovery. Why it matters In 2023, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s “Oklahoma Economist” feature found a “worrisome trend” in the state’s oil and gas economy. At the time, Oklahoma was still No. 2 for oil and gas jobs behind Texas, but it had seen “bigger job losses in recent years than any other oil and gas state,” and job losses far exceeded the national average, the Fed’s researchers concluded. The state, which ranks No. 6 in the U.S. for oil and gas production, has slipped to third for oil and gas jobs, behind Texas and Louisiana. Oklahoma’s oil and gas sector directly employs just under 50,000 people, according to federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data tracked by Energy Workforce. The bottom line is that “you just need fewer workers to produce more oil” these days, Greg Upton, executive director of Louisiana State University’s Center for Energy Studies, told Politico’s E&E. Yes, but… Oklahoma has been a fast grower for renewable energy: Between 2018 and 2023, non-hydrocarbon power generation increased by 35%, more than twice the national average, Reuters reported last year. The state is now home to more than 20,000 jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Though the state’s department of commerce says Oklahoma ranks 6th nationally in solar power potential, 94% of the state’s renewable energy came from wind, according to EIA figures. Oklahoma ranked third for wind generation by 2023, and wind supplied 42% of the state’s total electricity generation, according to the EIA. That was second only to natural gas, which provided 50% of the state’s net generation, according to the EIA. The bigger picture The Trump administration’s push against wind power has been swift, though. An executive order forbids the federal government from issuing “new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects” until an analysis is complete. The timeline for the analysis is unclear. Growth in Oklahoma’s wind industry was slowing before that, though. The state had been adding an average of 516 megawatts of wind capacity each year since 2000 and only planned to add 119 megawatts annually through 2027, according to the Kansas City Fed’s Oklahoma Economist report. The state expected to add 364 megawatts of natural gas capacity each year through 2027, the Fed report states, calling it “an acceleration from recent years.”
