The Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma is calling on state lawmakers to take aggressive steps this session to restore Oklahoma’s competitiveness in the oil and natural gas industry, warning that past policy decisions have driven capital and headquarters jobs to Texas and other states.

In a Feb. 17 letter to legislative leaders, Alliance President Brook A. Simmons said the recent headquarters relocations of Devon Energy and Expand Energy to Houston should be viewed as a wake-up call. Despite the moves, the letter argues the industry remains Oklahoma’s dominant economic engine, generating $60.3 billion in statewide economic impact in 2023, supporting one in 10 jobs, and contributing $3.2 billion in total taxes.

Simmons told lawmakers legislative actions between 2015 and 2018 — including tax increases and regulatory changes — shifted drilling activity and investment elsewhere. He noted Oklahoma was the only state from 2019 to 2024 to experience a net loss of “advanced industry” jobs.

The Alliance outlined a 2026 policy agenda that includes tort reform, revisions to the Production Revenue Standards Act, ad valorem tax reform, tax relief, education reform, and a renewed emphasis on natural gas development.

“Your actions this session can begin the process of reversing policy-inflicted decline,” Simmons wrote, urging lawmakers to enact policies that “encourage investment and reward innovation” in Oklahoma’s defining industry.