Publicly traded oil companies are keeping prices high to keep their shareholders happy, but the workers doing the drilling aren’t seeing any benefit from their employers’ record profits. In a survey of 141 oil and gas firms by the Dallas Fed, 59% of 132 executives said publicly traded oil and gas companies were not increasing extraction because of “investor pressure to maintain capital discipline.”
Oil and gas companies and their executives enjoyed substantial windfalls from the Russian invasion of Ukraine one month ago but that cash has not trickled down to workers, according to a survey released by recruiting firms Airswift and Energy Jobline. Less than one-third of oilfield workers have received a raise in the last year and more than one-in-five (21%) have endured pay cuts. More than four-in-five (82%) said they would consider leaving the oil and gas sector with renewable energy being the most popular option. (Shareholder pressure: Wall Street Journal $; Oilfield workers: Bloomberg $)