OKLAHOMA CITY, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Tax collections from oil and natural gas production in Oklahoma have turned the corner, though the state isn't yet out of the woods, the state treasurer said.
Oklahoma reported tax collections from oil and natural gas production in October at $35.1 million, an 8.9 percent increase from the same month last year. The improvement marks a first for the shale-rich state in almost two years.
"It's not yet time to sing 'Happy Days Are Here Again,' but this month's gross production number is welcome news," State Treasurer Ken Miller said in a statement.
Collections from October are based on output from August, when West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark for oil prices, was trading at around $44 per barrel, a value slightly less than the pre-market level for Thursday. Tax collections for Oklahoma hit a 17-year low in April, based on a February price for WTI at $30.32 per barrel.
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Gross production taxes from the oil and gas sector brought in $31.5 million in September, down 14 percent from the previous month and marked the 21st straight month for a year-on-year contraction. The state Treasury Department said some economic metrics were the lowest they've been in four years.
Miller's office reported a state unemployment rate of 5.2 percent, the third month in a row the rate stayed above the national average. Before July, unemployment in Oklahoma had stayed below the national average for a quarter of a century.
Chad Wilkerson, the branch executive for the regional Federal Reserve office, reported state unemployment is moving against the national tide as the downturn for oil and gas sectors spills over into other labor pools like manufacturing.
Oklahoma is one of the most significant producers of crude oil in the United States, accounting for about 4 percent of the nation's total. It hosts some of the largest deposits of shale oil in the country and the trading hub in Cushing is considered the most significant entity of its kind in North America.
