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Texas oil and gas production is reaching new heights, and the numbers prove it: the Lone Star State is not just keeping pace with global energy demand. It is setting the standard.
In Texas, energy leadership is built on results, and the Texas Oil and Gas Association’s May 2026 monthly energy economics review delivers them in abundance. From record production figures to surging export revenues and dramatic efficiency gains in the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale, the data paints a clear picture: Texas is the indispensable engine of American energy dominance, and the world is taking notice.
In April 2026, Texas produced an estimated 5.8 million barrels of crude oil per day and 35.5 billion cubic feet of marketed natural gas per day. That output represents 42.2% of all U.S. crude oil production and 29.6% of marketed natural gas production nationwide. No other state comes close. When the global economy demands energy, it is Texas producers who answer the call.
Texas energy exports reached $22.1 billion in March 2026, a 14.9% increase from the same period a year earlier. Crude oil led the way at $10 billion, followed by $6.8 billion in refined products. Those figures represent jobs, investment, and the kind of trade strength that underpins American prosperity. Europe has emerged as the dominant destination for Texas energy, receiving 46% of Texas crude oil exports and 43% of its liquefied natural gas exports, a testament to the state’s growing strategic role in global energy security.
Texas produced 29.2 billion cubic feet of dry natural gas per day, with 13.1 billion cubic feet consumed domestically by industry and power generation and 15.6 billion cubic feet exported daily. Of those exports, 9.9 billion cubic feet per day moved as liquefied natural gas, with 78% shipped to Europe. Pipeline exports to Mexico accounted for an additional 5.7 billion cubic feet per day. Texas natural gas is heating homes and powering factories from Houston to Hamburg.
Perhaps most encouraging for the long-term health of the Texas energy sector is the efficiency revolution now underway in its two premier production basins. Since January 2023, new production per rig has risen 53% in the Eagle Ford and 55% in the Permian, driven by technological advances and improved drilling practices. Over the same period, wells drilled per rig increased 31% in the Eagle Ford and 20% in the Permian. Texas producers are doing more with less, a story of innovation that anti-energy activists and climate mandate advocates consistently ignore. Meanwhile, the state’s rig count climbed to 240, up 7% from January, signaling renewed operator confidence in the basin’s long-term potential.
The critics who insist that fossil fuel production is in decline, or that Texas energy’s best days are behind it, are simply not looking at the data. Texas oil and natural gas are the foundation of American energy security, economic competitiveness, and global influence, today and for decades to come.
Once again, Texas oil and natural gas producers are doing what they have always done: meeting growing demand with innovation, investment, and results. The May 2026 data is not just a monthly report. It is a declaration of strength.
