HOUSTON, Texas — Fresh data shows that half of the nation’s growth in oil and gas drilling over the last year took place in Texas and Oklahoma.
Texas–which produces more than 3 million barrels of crude oil each day–has become a mammoth in the gas and oil industry on the international level. If the state were a country, it would be home to 26 drilling rigs on the planet, according to the Dallas Business Journal.
During the last year alone, 59 new rigs popped up in Texas–more than any other U.S. state.
But Oklahoma is not to be discounted. During the last year, the state added 43 new rigs, giving it the second fastest growth rate. KGOU reported that if this trend continues, Oklahoma could soon be producing more crude oil than California.
New Mexico and North Dakota also saw notable growth in new rigs over the last year, although not nearly as significant as that in Texas and Oklahoma.
The growing gas and oil industry largely prevented energy-centered states from taking a severe hit during the most recent national economic depression. The boom has provided lucrative job opportunities to millenials, many of whom have relocated to states like Texas with hopes of finding success as oil barons, businessmen, investors, engineers, and landmen.
Traditional leading markets like Los Angeles see roughly 10 percent of the population often unable to find a job. But most oil cities have the opposite problem thanks to humming gas and oil.
Sarah Higgins, a spokeswoman for the West Texas town Midland, previously told Breitbart Texas, “We have issues filling our jobs. … Oil and gas is driving our economy.”
She mentioned that a bust isn’t likely to follow the current boom, as resources under the ground are plentiful and drilling is now technology-driven. New drilling methods have shifted the focus of the oil industry, and provided an ideal opportunity for young people to enter the scene. Many believe that “conventional drilling” will largely die out with the baby boomer generation.
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