Oil crash causes drag on Texas economy

New York

AS the saying goes, everything is bigger in Texas.

For the past five years, the economy of the Lone Star State has outperformed the rest of the United States. But the collapse in oil prices has left Texas facing its toughest test since the financial crisis.

A 50 per cent tumble in oil prices since June has prompted companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron to slash billions of dollars in worldwide investment. Oil services companies such as Schlumberger and Halliburton have announced thousands of job cuts.

So far, only a handful of petroleum companies have filed layoff notices in Texas this year, and the Texas Workforce Comm…