CHRON.com: Texas oil & gas industry cut record 26,300 jobs in April

The oil and gas industry shed a record-breaking 26,300 jobs in Texas during April as shutdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic cut demand and sent commodity prices to record lows.

Drilling, completion, production and related sectors employed 192,600 people in Texas last month, a 12 percent drop from the 218,900 jobs in March, new figures from the Texas Workforce Commission show.

The 192,600 upstream oil and gas jobs held at the end of April are at a low not seen since Nov. 2016 while the 26,300 layoffs mark the largest drop of industry jobs in a single month, a review of figures going back to 1990 show.

Houston oil field service giant Halliburton has laid off more than 1,900 people in Texas since the beginning of the year while Midland-based rival ProPetro shed more than 1,400 jobs and Houston-based NexTier Oilfield Solutions laid off nearly 1,000 employees, notices filed with the Texas Workforce Commission show.