The COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest challenge faced by the United States since World War II.  The virus and the government shutdown and stay at home mandates have had a powerful negative impact on the U.S economy. Texas businesses, often immune to national economic downturns, are not immune to the effects of COVID-19. With this in mind, the Hobby School of Public Affairs is undertaking a series of surveys targeting vital businesses in the Lone Star State in the wake of the pandemic. 

The second survey in the series concentrates on the Texas Oil and Gas Industry in partnership with the Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA). Collectively, the membership of TXOGA produces in excess of 80 percent of Texas’ crude oil and natural gas, operates over 80 percent of the state’s refining capacity, and is responsible for the vast majority of the state’s pipelines. A representative group of TXOGA members were surveyed between May 12 and 27 via an online survey sent to their e-mail address on file with TXOGA.

Key Findings

• Seventy percent of TXOGA members believe global economic growth will improve over the next 12 months.
• The most common projection for the price of WTI in May of 2021 is between $40 and $49.
• Seventy-seven percent of TXOGA companies expect to spend less on philanthropy and community outreach in 2020 compared to 2019.
• The three greatest threats to oil and gas company growth over the next year in the eyes of TXOGA members are the election of Joe Biden, an oversupply of oil and natural gas, and weak demand for oil and gas.
• The actions that the State of Texas can undertake to best help the oil and gas industry weather this crisis are property tax relief, the extension of Texas Railroad Commission waivers, and severance tax relief.

Report

Media Release

Research Team 

Principal Investigators

Kirk Watson, Dean, Hobby School of Public Affairs

Mark P. Jones, Senior Research Fellow, Hobby School of Public Affairs; James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy’s Fellow in Political Science, Rice University

Pablo M. Pinto, Director, Center for Public Policy & Associate Professor, Hobby School of Public Affairs

Researchers

Gail Buttorff, Co-Director, Survey Research Institute & Assistant Instructional Professor, Hobby School of Public Affairs

Francisco Cantú, Co-Director, Survey Research Institute & Associate Professor, Department of Political Science

Renée Cross, Senior Director & Researcher, Hobby School of Public Affairs

Jim Granato, Associate Dean & Professor, Hobby School of Public Affairs

Richard Murray, Lanier Chair in Urban Public Policy & Professor, Department of Political Science

Yewande O. Olapade, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Hobby School of Public Affairs

Savannah Sipole, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Hobby School of Public Affairs

Agustín Vallejo, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Hobby School of Public Affairs

Sunny M.C. Wong, Professor, Hobby School of Public Affairs