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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The recent spike in oil prices might not prove to be beneficial to those who work in the oil field. 

Gus Barrera, President and CEO of IBC Bank said the ups and downs in oil prices are driving many workers to look for work in other fields. 

"I think at the last downturn in the oil and gas industry a lot of the workers said I'm out," Barrera said. "And so now that the rotary and rig count has picked up they're looking to hire, and they just can't fill those positions fast enough right now."

The good news is coming from surveys conducted by the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association and from the Texas Oil and Gas Association.

Former railroad commissioner and current TXOGA president Todd Staples said it's welcomes news for south Texas and the state.

"We have now about a ten percent job gain year over year from January of 2021 to January 2022," Staples said. "We've had consistent job increases regaining about 19,000 jobs but we need an even stronger signal to grow more rapidly."

One such signal according to Staples, would be for President Biden to change his mind about the keystone oil pipeline project. Staples said for every direct oil job, an additional 2.2 jobs are created in support industries.  

Barrera said the labor shortage will have the same impact as spiking oil prices. 

"I can see probably within the next six months to a year where the wage pressures are going to continue," Barrera said. "The demand is going to go up and the competition will go up which is going to lead to, obviously that's going to be passed on to higher prices."

The demand for oil field workers will continue for the foreseeable future. 

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