US Mining and Energy Extraction Sector NAICS 21

Sep 14, 2025 - Producers Laying Off Workers

• ConocoPhillips has announced plans to reduce its workforce by up to 25%, making it the latest US oil producer to announce major layoffs, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Houston-based crude oil producer’s move follows Chevron’s announcement in February of plans to cut its workforce up to 20% by the end of 2026. The drilling industry is laying off workers despite President Trump’s energy-friendly policies and promise of a “golden age for fossil fuels,” according to WSJ. However, Trump’s chaotic trade policies have created global economic uncertainty, weighing on oil prices. That, combined with an announcement by OPEC+’s this month that it will boost oil output, is depressing US oil prices, currently around $62 a barrel – below the break-even point for many of the industry’s smaller players. Moreover, the administration’s 50% tariff on steel imports is raising drillers’ costs causing producers to cut back.
• According to the latest quarterly Dallas Fed Energy Survey, more than a quarter (27%) of oil-and-gas companies active in Texas and adjacent territories plan to cut back on capital spending in 2026 compared to nearly 40% who continue to expect spending on capex to rise next year. The survey of business leaders at exploration and development companies and oilfield services firms found the drop to be concentrated among large producers, with 75% saying they now expect to drill fewer wells this year than planned to at the start of 2025. By contrast, only 34% of leaders from smaller companies said they’ve scaled back their plans. The share of business leaders surveyed in the second-quarter who said they expect to trim capex in the next year was the highest since late 2023. Leaders disagree with the Trump administration regarding a viable price per barrel for West Texas Intermediate crude oil.

• Cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, threaten miners’ safety just as the Trump administration is seeking to expand mining in the US, NPR reports. The president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) condemned the cuts, stating “This is not just an attack on jobs. This is an attack on the very foundation of worker safety in the United States of America.” The UMWA president said the dismantling of the Respiratory Disease Division at NIOSH eliminates the nation’s leading defense against black lung disease and other respiratory illnesses that afflict miners. In March, President Trump signed an executive order fast tracking permitting and expanding mining in the US. The cuts at NIOSH followed soon after. More mining means more miners to protect. However, miners' protections are being stripped away, says the UMWA.
• The producer price Index (PPI) for all mining industries, which measures prices producers receive for their products, fell 1.4% in August compared to a year ago, after falling 2.8% in the previous August-versus-August annual comparison, according to the latest data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The PPI for all mining industries has declined by 34% from its peak in June 2022. Employment by mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction firms shrank 2.2% year over year in August and is down 20% over the past decade, BLS data shows. Meanwhile, the average industry wage rose 3.2% YoY in July to $$38.05 per hour, easing from its high in February.