Business

AUSTIN—Data from the Texas Workforce Commission suggests that Texas upstream oil and natural gas employment expanded by 3,100 jobs in June—the fifth best single-month performance in over five years. Since reaching the low point in employment in September 2020, months with job gains have outnumbered decline months 7-to-2.

AUSTIN—The Texas Railroad Commission issued a total of 779 original drilling permits in July 2021 compared to 351 in July 2020. The July 2021 total includes 672 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, 11 to re-enter plugged well bores, and 83 for recompletions of existing well bores.

CANYON—Companies looking for West Texas A&M University student employees can recruit them on campus at an upcoming event. WT’s Back-to-School Job Fair will run from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm on Aug. 26 at the Charles K. and Barbara Kerr Vaughan Pedestrian Mall in the center of the Canyon campus. Registration deadline for companies is at 5 pm on Aug. 20. There is no cost, but registration is required at bit.ly/b2sfair21. During the come-and-go job fair as the 2021-22 school year begins, students will look for part-time employment opportunities both on- and off-campus. “Connecting students with these employers from their early college years will promote greater connections within the community and, ultimately, a better network for our students as they enter the job market,” said Sam Green, senior career services coordinator in WT’s Office of Career and Professional Development. A full list of companies will be available to students via their Handshake account at bit.ly/wtbacktoschool21.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will host the 23rd annual Wheatheart Wheat Conference on Aug. 12 at the Ochiltree County Expo Center, 402 Expo Drive in Perryton.

CANADIAN—Ed Hedgecoke, financial advisor, and Kinsey Burrus, associate financial advisor, both with Ameriprise Financial, recently changed the name of their practice to Hedgecoke and Burrus Financial Advisory Group, a financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC, located at 123 N. 3rd St. in Canadian.

AUSTIN—During the pandemic, Texans headed back to nature in record numbers, with more people visiting state parks, hunting, fishing, and boating than ever before. A new congressional proposal aims to tap that exploding interest by investing more than $50 million per year in Texas for wildlife recovery and related public education and recreation, a move expected to boost the state’s already booming nature-based economy into overdrive.

AUSTIN—In another move to take advantage of improvements in technologies, the Railroad Commission this week launched its new Pipeline Inspection Permitting Evaluation System (RRC PIPES). RRC PIPES is a centralized cloud-based portal, which streamlines agency processes and provides a valuable tool for RRC’s pipeline safety staff and operators to upload documents, including inspection and incident reports, and complaints, while automatically making more documents available to the public.

President Joe Biden signed a new executive order on Friday that could have broad impacts on agriculture and corporate business, covering competition in various industries. While the executive order covers a wide range of industries, specifically to agriculture, a fact sheet [see link below] from the White House says the order:

AUSTIN—The Texas Railroad Commission issued a total of 739 original drilling permits in June 2021, compared to 312 in June 2020. The June 2021 total includes 638 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, seven to reenter plugged well bores, and 84 for recompletions of existing well bores. The breakdown of well types for original drilling permits in June 2021 is 171 oil, 37 gas, 501 oil or gas, 24 injection, and six other permits. RRC staff processed 507 oil, 158 gas, and 128 injection completions for new drills, reentries, and recompletions, compared to 1,031 oil, 300 gas, and 371 injection completions in June 2020. Total well completions processed for 2021 year-to-date for new drills, re-entries, and recompletions are 4,155 compared to 7,930 recorded during the same period in 2020. In the Panhandle area, 10 permits to drill new oil/gas holes were issued and seven new gas completions were reported during the month. Detailed data on drilling permits and well completions can be found online at www.rrc.texas.gov.

AUSTIN—Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced today he will send cities, counties, transit systems, and specialpurpose taxing districts $893.2 million in local sales tax allocations for July, 20 percent more than in July 2020. These allocations are based on sales made in May by businesses that report tax monthly.