Business

Farmers and ranchers across the Lone Star State will meet in Waco on Dec. 5 as part of the 87th Annual meeting of the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB), the state’s largest general farm and ranch organization. TFB delegates will meet in Waco to determine official policy positions of the organization. Delegates will debate resolutions that originate from county Farm Bureau organizations. Issues include feral hog control, performance bonds on land remediation for eminent domain projects, regulations to incentivize meatprocessing facilities, property rights, and many others. The one-day, in-person business meeting will adhere to CDC COVID-19 guidelines to ensure safety. TFB is hosting a hybrid annual meeting this year, with both virtual and in-person sessions. For more information, go to https://texasfarmbureau.org/annualmeeting/.

AUSTIN—Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar today said state sales-tax revenue totaled $2.98 billion in November, 6.3 percent less than in November 2019. The majority of November sales tax revenue is based on sales made in October and remitted to the agency in November.

AUSTIN—Crude-oil and natural-gas production as reported to the Railroad Commission of Texas for September 2020 came from 168,740 oil wells and 84,707 gas wells. According to preliminary reports, crude oil produced during September totaled 104,320,582 barrels, down from 133,492,234 bbls in September 2019, and 744,787,914 Mcf of natural gas, down from 895,597,169 Mcf a year ago.

WACO—A traditional, Texas-style Thanksgiving dinner for 10 will cost $44.21, down $3.80, according to the special Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Thanksgiving Meal Report. The survey records the cost of 10 holiday staples—including turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pecan pie.

AUSTIN—Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced today he will send cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $890.5 million in local sales tax allocations for November, 4.8 percent more than in November 2019. These allocations are based on sales made in September by businesses that report tax monthly, and on sales made in July, August and September by quarterly filers.

AUSTIN—The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) issued a total of 395 original drilling permits in October 2020, compared to 971 in October 2019. The October 2020 total includes 329 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, three to re-enter plugged well bores, and 41 for recompletions of existing well bores.

AUSTIN—Commissioners for the Railroad Commission of Texas took a critical step on Wednesday, Nov. 4 toward further reducing flaring from oil and gas sites in the state.

AMARILLO—Xcel Energy crews are finishing up repairs on the area power grid more than a week after Winter Storm Billy pummeled the Texas plains with ice, snow, and high winds, leaving more than half of the company’s Texas customers in the dark.

AUSTIN—The upstream sector of the Texas oil and natural gas industry added 700 jobs in September, according to data from the Texas Workforce Commission. This is the first uptick since February, bringing the total upstream employment in Texas to 170,500 jobs—jobs that pay among the highest wages in Texas. The upstream sector involves oil and natural gas extraction and excludes other industry sectors such as refining, petrochemicals, fuels wholesaling, oilfield equipment manufacturing, pipelines, and gas utilities, which support hundreds of thousands of additional jobs in Texas.

AUSTIN—Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar today said state sales tax revenue totaled $2.72 billion in October, 3.5 percent less than in October 2019. The majority of October sales tax revenue is based on sales made in September and remitted to the agency in October.