The Texas economy, compared to other US states, has been hit by the pandemic twice as much.
All the fault of the collapse of the main Texas nurse – the oil industry.
Since 2020, many exploration and production companies have experienced a sharp drop in revenue amid heavy debt burdens and a glut in the global oil market. Due to the viral crisis and oil wars, investors began to be very skeptical about the oil industry and were in no hurry to part with money.
In Texas, oil company executives were forced to resort to stopping boreholes. The number of rigs has decreased by more than half.
The US shale industry has never been profitable, even when oil prices were many times higher. There is no reason to believe that the energy industry will become an economic engine in the foreseeable future, when the fight against the pandemic will end.
Residents of Texas fear that the oil industry will not be able to recover from the blow and will cease to be fundamental in the state’s economy.
According to the Federal Reserve System of Dallas, $ 1.2 trillion was invested in the oil industry from 2010 to 2019, but now forecasts are more than pessimistic.
Owning drilling rigs, with their deep debt history, it will be much more difficult to convince large investors and banking institutions in financing the production of shale oil.
The economic consequences of reducing investment in the energy sector can already be called disastrous.
Texas Energy is still dominated by the Covid-19. The Texans are demanding that the authorities of the state and the US government take measures to overcome the protracted crisis.
While most of the United States is taking steps to rebuild the economy and quit quarantine, Texas Petroleum continues to suffer.
The Texas Labor Commission gives dry statistics on the number of laid off Texans:
– “ProPetro Services”, an oilfield services company – 400 people were laid off in a week;
– Tenaris, a manufacturer of pipes used in the oil industry – 200 people were laid off in a week.
The expense of such companies is approaching a hundred.
Over the past week, nearly 35,000 workers in Texas drilling companies have applied for unemployment benefits.
By the end of May, the state may lose more than 100,000 jobs in the oil and gas industry. But real losses can be much higher if you take into account all enterprises directly or indirectly involved in the energy sector.
By the end of the year, Texas authorities forecast a loss of 1 million jobs.
The crisis made the Texans remember their historical past.
Social networks are again calling for a referendum on the withdrawal of Texas from the United States.
Let me remind you, Texas, before joining the United States, was, recognized by the international community, an independent state.
When entering the United States, Texas at the legislative level assigned all the lands and bowels of the state to the Texans, as to the people. In other words, there are US federal states in all states except Texas.
Thus, if desired, relying on the support of the Texas people, state authorities could well afford to begin the process of secession from the United States.
Moreover, every Texan knows and remembers that Texas was part of the United States not as part of it, but as an equal state that entered into an alliance with another equal state.