(NewsNation) — U.S. oil production has hit record highs, but that hasn’t translated into job growth for the industry — in fact, it’s just the opposite.

A news report from Bloomberg says oil producers aren’t likely to restore the 250,000 jobs they cut over the last decade, in part because the latest technology allows companies to drill more efficiently and with fewer people.

“For the better part of 10 years now, it has become increasingly apparent that the industry simply needs fewer employees to produce ever-higher volumes of crude oil and natural gas,” Karr Ingham, president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, told the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

Meantime, with current low crude oil prices of about $60 a barrel, the industry is not incentivized to tap new sources, even as it finds a more favorable regulatory environment under the Trump administration. Instead, consolidation and mergers are the norm as the oil industry tries to maximize profits.  

“Labor is the first place that really takes the punch,” analyst Trey Cowan of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis told Bloomberg.

U.S. field production of crude oil hit a record daily peak of more than 13 million barrels last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Even if jobs aren’t forthcoming, the good news for consumers is that gasoline prices are hovering at or below $3 a gallon in many regions.