Last year, Texas oil wells produced more than 1.54 billion barrels of oil, besting the previous record of 1.28 billion set in 1973. Gov. Greg Abbott seemed pleased: “As the national leader in oil and natural gas production, Texas is paving the way for America’s energy independence. From technological advancements resulting in increased oil and natural gas output to our LNG export facilities, the Lone Star State’s energy economy is firing on all cylinders.” He then pledged, “As Governor, I will continue to work with our independent oil and gas producers to take our economy to even greater heights.”

Forbes noted just how incredible the new record was, reporting, “How big is that total production number? Per TIPRO, the second largest oil producing state, North Dakota, came in with 443 million barrels of total oil production for the year, about 29% of the total produced in Texas. Given that, according to the Texas Railroad Commission’s official data, Texas crude production for 2017 came in at 1.027 billion barrels, that means that oil producers in Texas basically increased the state’s oil production by more than the equivalent of North Dakota’s in a single 12-month period.”

But it’s not just Texas that has benefited. The increased production of both crude oil and natural gas has the industry adding to the country’s rising employment numbers. At the end of 2018, the oil industry employed 880,681 people, an increase of 5% over 2017’s numbers. Texas accounted for 352,000 of those jobs. The natural-gas industry also contributed significantly, as it created more than 27,000 jobs last year alone.

Experts estimate that this year Texas’ oil production will surpass that of Iran and Iraq — meaning that the Lone Star State will become the world’s third-largest oil producer behind only Russia and Saudi Arabia.