New drilling drops, oil jobs lost amid low prices

Amid a dip in oil prices, new oil and gas drilling is down over last year, according to an industry group, while states that rely on the sector for employment also saw downswings in jobs last month.

{mosads}U.S. oil and natural gas companies set up 8 percent fewer new drilling wells during the first three months of 2015 than they did during the same period last year, according to a quarterly report from the American Petroleum Institute (API). In a statement, API statistics director Hazem Arafa blamed the decrease on “outdated energy policies” and said “reducing unnecessary regulations and allowing free trade for oil and natural gas will enable U.S. producers to compete effectively in the global market under a low-price environment.”

Also Tuesday, Department of Labor statistics showed deep job losses in states with large oil and gas industries. Texas, which shed 25,400 jobs, led the nation in job losses, followed by Oklahoma, which lost 12,900.

Oil prices have fallen precipitously over the last year. The price of U.S. crude oil was around $56 per barrel on Tuesday, down from a high of $98.87 last June.