Want a Job? Go to Houston

Crude is at record levels. Natural gas is over $10 mbtu. Which companies are making gobs of money right now?

The exploration energy companies.

Where are most of them located?

Houston (and, for some of the smaller independents, Louisiana.)

Go to any of the company websites, even of the small independents with 150 employees, and there is a virtual guarantee that there will be at least one job opening. And at the big boys like Conoco and Exxon? There are dozens of jobs.

And they pay good wages too.

I’m not saying your local Wal-Mart greeter would have the qualifications to do some of these jobs. Many require an engineering degree or other specialized skills.

But many do not.

Are you able-bodied and not afraid to get your hands dirty?

Do you have strong finance, accounting and human resource skills?

Houston has added 86,000 jobs in the past 12 months. From the AP:

In some cases, energy companies are having a hard time finding enough workers, particularly engineers. Last Sunday, the Houston Chronicle jobs section totaled 14 pages — BP, Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Plains Exploration & Production Co. among the advertisers.

But it’s not only oil and gas driving Houston’s economic engine.

Construction jobs rose nearly 5 percent in metro Houston on an annual basis in February, while manufacturing employment rose about 2 percent, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

There is also the spillover effect from all of the wealth. Many of the small independents are going to have record years. What will they do with all the extra cash?

In some cases they’ll invest it in new wells and exploration. But the profits might be so big that they will be giving back to their employees.

Look at independent explorer Apache. They are headquartered in Houston and are hiring a few dozen in that location in all areas from finance and human resources to geology.

The company has long rewarded company employees for performance. In March, Apache announced that all company employees would be paid a special bonus in Apache stock.

People employed at Apache when the program began will receive shares equivalent to at least 50 percent of their annual salaries at that time; those hired later (but before July 1, 2007) will receive prorated awards. A total of about 2 million shares will be paid in four annual installments, providing a strong retention incentive.

The program began three years ago. So if you started in, say, 2004, and made $50,000 then, you’ll get $25,000 worth of stock.

Apache has 2,800 employees that will get at least part of the bonus.

Now THAT’S a stimulus check.

Houston last saw a big oil boom in the early 1980s and then it experienced a vicious bust. For now, the boom is on and the city is being cautious. Quietly, new oil millionaires are buying mansions in cash.

Is Houston the next Silicon Valley?

(In full disclosure, the writer of this article owns shares in Apache and is pleased to see the company rewarding its employees.)