Natural Gas Summit Brings 10,000+ Job Openings to Austin, Connects Veterans and Students With Natural Gas Industry Jobs: Event Culminates First Year of Commissioner Porter’s Natural Gas Initiative

AUSTIN – Railroad Commissioner David Porter is coordinating the first-ever Texas Natural Gas Summit and Job Fair at Austin’s Palmer Events Center on Thursday, October 23. The Summit culminates the first year of Porter’s Natural Gas Initiative, which showcases the economic, environmental and energy-security benefits of Texas natural gas.

The Summit will connect candidates with more than 10,000 job openings from 64 exhibitors, including major employers like Atmos Energy, GE, Halliburton and Ryder. Thirty natural gas vehicles and related equipment will be on display. The event is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Commissioner Porter made a special effort to connect military veterans with quality jobs in the state’s vibrant oil and natural gas industry. At his invitation, hundreds of transitioning servicemen and women from Camp Bullis, Camp Mabry, Fort Hood, Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Air Force Base and Randolph Air Force Base will attend the Summit to meet with industry recruiters.

“Increasing activity and an aging workforce have the oil and gas industry eager to fill jobs,” Porter said. “That’s why I personally invited the leaders of military bases and institutions of higher education across Texas to send job seekers to the Natural Gas Summit.”

Qualified workers are needed for a wide range of jobs, including business managers, construction workers, engineers, field service technicians, finance and accounting professionals, mechanics, rig hands, sales and marketing professionals, truck drivers and welders. These jobs pay well. The average oil and gas worker earns about $107,000 a year.

The Summit culminates the first year of Commissioner Porter’s Natural Gas Initiative. Since the Initiative’s launch last October, natural gas motor fuel displaced 16 million gallons of gasoline and diesel in Texas, more than doubling the forecast; the state’s natural gas fueling station count increased by 50 percent to 104; and, the state’s 7,148 natural gas vehicles for the first time outnumbered vehicles powered by any other alternative fuel. During the same period, investment in natural gas vehicles and fueling stations in Texas totaled $174 million, and oil and gas employment grew by 6.2 percent, to an all-time high of 297,800 jobs.

“Texas’ natural gas industry is generating big benefits for our state,” Porter said. “I look forward to helping more Texans enjoy those benefits at the Summit and in the future through my Natural Gas Initiative.”             

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Commissioner Porter was elected statewide to the Texas Railroad Commission on November 2, 2010. A Certified Public Accountant and successful small business owner, Commissioner Porter has worked with oil and gas producers for nearly three decades providing strategic financial advice and tax counsel. He has a long record of pro-business, free market, conservative credentials.