Economic Census Reveals Sharp Growth in Value of Shipments for Oil and Gas Extraction Industry

Biofuel Sales Nearly Quadruple

The U.S. Census Bureau released figures this week from the Economic Census showing that the value of shipments for the nation’s crude petroleum and natural gas extraction (NAICS 211111) industry climbed 28.9 percent between 2007 and 2012, despite only an 8.5 percent increase in the number of establishments over the same period.       Value of shipments rose from $212.8 billion in 2007 to $274.3 billion in 2012, with the number of establishments increasing from 5,964 to 6,470.       The industry also experienced a 21.1 percent increase in employment, which climbed from 143,054 in 2007 to 173,281 in 2012. Payroll jumped even more dramatically: 62.2 percent, from $9.1 billion in 2007 to $14.7 billion in 2012.       The industry’s growth was attributable to crude petroleum, whose substantial rise in value of shipments over the period (73.8 percent) was in stark contrast to that of natural gas, which experienced a 22.5 percent drop. The value of crude petroleum shipped was $102.3 billion in 2007 and $177.7 billion in 2012; the respective values for natural gas were $96.3 billion and $74.6 billion.The value of shipments data presented in this news release does not control for impact of changes in price or volume of crude or natural gas production.       The establishments in this industry operate oil and gas wells on their own account or for others on a contract fee basis.       These results are part of the 2012 Economic Census Industry Series, which publishes national statistics for detailed industries as well as information on the product lines sold or services provided by businesses. These data are collected for establishments, which are typically single physical locations of a business that produce or distribute goods or perform services, and can be accessed via census.gov.       For the mining sector (NAICS 21), which includes crude petroleum and natural gas extraction, more recent information comes from two economic indicators: third quarter 2014 data from the Quarterly Financial Report, while data on exports and imports of oil and gas are available for December 2014 from our International Trade series. Similar programs are also conducted for other economic sectors. These programs publish information similar to what is available from the economic census but at less detailed industry and geographic levels. For more information on the data available from these other surveys for a given industry, see the Industry Statistics Portal. This release completed the 2012 Economic Census Industry Series. Petroleum Wholesalers Industry       Also recently released from the 2012 Economic Census Industry Series are statistics from a related industry − petroleum and petroleum products merchant wholesalers (NAICS 4247). This industry includes gasoline merchant wholesalers, lubricating oil and grease merchant wholesalers, and petroleum bulk stations and terminals.       Sales of biofuels by this industry (NAICS 4247) increased 291.5 percent between 2007 and 2012, from $3.0 billion to $11.7 billion. Biofuels include ethanol, methanol, biodiesel and gasohol.       Additional 2012 to 2007 comparisons for petroleum wholesalers: ·         Petroleum and petroleum products merchant wholesalers (NAICS 4247) reported $1.4 trillion in sales in 2012. This amounted to a 66.3 percent increase from 2007, despite a 13.8 percent decline from 7,871 establishments to 6,788 establishments in this industry over the same period. ·         Sales of refined petroleum products, excluding liquefied petroleum by this industry (NAICS 4247) increased 72.6 percent from $617.0 billion to $1.1 trillion. Sales of crude oil by this industry (NAICS 4247) rose 137.6 percent from $86.0 billion to $204.4 billion. ·         The number of petroleum bulk stations and terminals (NAICS 42471) decreased 8.4 percent from 4,810 to 4,408, although their sales rose 72.1 percent from $509.3 billion in 2007 to $876.5 billion in 2012. ·         The number of petroleum and petroleum products merchant wholesalers, except bulk stations and terminals (NAICS 42472), declined 22.2 percent, from 3,061 in 2007 to 2,380 in 2012, but experienced a 57.2 percent jump in sales from $322.9 billion to $507.4 billion over the same period.