Study: Oil and gas jobs declining.

The oil and gas industry, riding high on record oil and gas prices and cash flow, saw the number of its employees decline for the 20th time in 23 years, a study by John. S. Herold revealed.

The research firm said its analysis found that employment by the largest U.S. oil and gas companies fell 4.1% in 2004.

The top 25 companies tracked by Herold eliminated 120,000 jobs since 1999. The industry lost more than 21,000 jobs in 2004 to total a little more than 514,000. Since the 1981 oil price peak, the largest oil companies have shed more than 1.11 million employees, the Herold study said.