Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers
Operate or control petroleum refining or processing units. May specialize in controlling manifold and pumping systems, gauging or testing oil in storage tanks, or regulating the flow of oil into pipelines.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 39% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by -1.9% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on ethical judgement and physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $96,710
- Job growth to 2035
- -1.9%
- Openings a year
- 2,700
- People doing it (2025)
- 32,900
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance
- Plan work activities
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Monitor equipment operation
- Maintain tools or equipment
- Operate pumping systems or equipment
What the work looks like
- Signal other workers by telephone or radio to operate pumps, open and close valves, and check temperatures.
- Maintain and repair equipment, or report malfunctioning equipment to supervisors so that repairs can be scheduled.
- Monitor process indicators, instruments, gauges, and meters to detect and report any possible problems.
- Start pumps and open valves or use automated equipment to regulate the flow of oil in pipelines and into and out of tanks.
- Operate control panels to coordinate and regulate process variables such as temperature and pressure, and to direct product flow rate, according to process schedules.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as technological advancements in robotics, automation, and digital solutions boost labor productivity and reduce staff requirements.
- Fewer of these jobs, as technological advancements in automation and digital solutions boost labor productivity and reduce staff requirements.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 52, -6.1%
- Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tendersHuman edge, growing, Index 90, +5.9%
- Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibersHuman edge, steady, Index 56, -3.3%
- Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tendersHuman edge, steady, Index 47, -5.7%
Also known as: Gauger, Operator, Pumper, Refinery Operator, Board Operator, Crude Unit Operator, Hydrotreater Operator, Outside Operator.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.