Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas
Occupation · SOC 47-5012.00
Set up or operate a variety of drills to remove underground oil and gas, or remove core samples for testing during oil and gas exploration.
Also called: Daylight Driller · Drill Operator · Driller · Tool Pusher · Drilling Rig Operator · Motor Man · Oil Rig Driller · Oil Well Driller · Relief Driller · Blast Driller · Cable Driller · Cable Tool Driller
Job family: Construction and Extraction Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-47-5012-00/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- About average employment outlook (+0.2% by 2034)
- 1,200 openings/yr
- Low AI exposure
- Median pay $65,010/yr
- Work is mostly on-site (not teleworkable)
13th-percentile task overlap — yet about 1,200 openings a year (+0.2% projected, BLS) . What exposure means →
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) Low | 26th | -0.8 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Low | 8th | 0.1 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Low | 13th | 0.1 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.1), with simple added tooling (β 0.1), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.1). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
This job mostly cannot be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman) — its hands-on tasks sit outside what software-based AI reaches.
Historical automation estimate (2013)
A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
Frey–Osborne probability 0.5 · 48th percentile among occupations · Moderate
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | About average · +0.2% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 1,200 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 13,300 → 13,400 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient
The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international occupation below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas sits at the 30th percentile of 427
occupations on the global GenAI task-exposure gradient
— exposure eased from 2023 to 2025. Each dot is one occupation; the
ringed one is this work. Exposure is task overlap, not automation or jobs lost.
19% mean task exposure (2025)
30th percentile of 427 placed occupations
−3 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Well Drillers and Borers and Related Workers · 8113 | 19% | Not exposed |
Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.
Tasks
All 22 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Train crews, and introduce procedures to make drill work more safe and effective. Core · importance 4.5
- Observe pressure gauge and move throttles and levers to control the speed of rotary tables, and to regulate pressure of tools at bottoms of boreholes. Core · importance 4.5
- Count sections of drill rod to determine depths of boreholes. Core · importance 4.4
- Push levers and brake pedals to control gasoline, diesel, electric, or steam draw works that lower and raise drill pipes and casings in and out of wells. Core · importance 4.4
- Connect sections of drill pipe, using hand tools and powered wrenches and tongs. Core · importance 4.4
- Maintain records of footage drilled, location and nature of strata penetrated, materials and tools used, services rendered, and time required. Core · importance 4.4
- Maintain and adjust machinery to ensure proper performance. Core · importance 4.3
- Start and examine operation of slush pumps to ensure circulation and consistency of drilling fluid or mud in well. Core · importance 4.3
- Locate and recover lost or broken bits, casings, and drill pipes from wells, using special tools. Core · importance 4.3
- Direct rig crews in drilling and other activities, such as setting up rigs and completing or servicing wells. Core · importance 4.2
- Weigh clay, and mix with water and chemicals to make drilling mud. Core · importance 4.2
- Monitor progress of drilling operations, and select and change drill bits according to the nature of strata, using hand tools. Core · importance 4.2
- Repair or replace defective parts of machinery, such as rotary drill rigs, water trucks, air compressors, and pumps, using hand tools. Core · importance 4.1
- Cap wells with packers, or turn valves, to regulate outflow of oil from wells. Supplemental · importance 4.1
- Clean and oil pulleys, blocks, and cables. Core · importance 4.0
- Line drilled holes with pipes, and install all necessary hardware, to prepare new wells. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Bolt together pump and engine parts, and connect tanks and flow lines. Core · importance 4.0
- Position and prepare truck-mounted derricks at drilling areas specified on field maps. Supplemental · importance 3.9
- Remove core samples during drilling to determine the nature of the strata being drilled. Core · importance 3.8
- Plug observation wells, and restore sites. Supplemental · importance 3.5
- Dig holes, set forms, and mix and pour concrete, for foundations of steel or wooden derricks. Supplemental
- Lower and explode charges in boreholes to start flow of oil from wells. Supplemental
Work activities
- Train construction or extraction personnel.
- Operate drilling equipment.
- Measure work site dimensions.
- Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.
- Install drilling equipment.
- Record operational or environmental data.
- Maintain drilling equipment.
- Inspect equipment or tools to be used in construction or excavation.
- Operate pumps or compressors.
- Measure materials or objects for installation or assembly.
- Mix substances or compounds needed for work activities.
- Direct construction or extraction personnel.
- Monitor extraction operations.
- Select construction equipment.
- Install equipment attachments or components.
- Clean equipment or facilities.
- Assemble products or production equipment.
- Collect geological samples.
- Install plumbing or piping.
- Position construction or extraction equipment.
- Prepare excavation or extraction sites for commissioning or decommissioning.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Abilities
| Problem Sensitivity | 4.0 | |
| Control Precision | 4.0 | |
| Near Vision | 3.9 | |
| Arm-Hand Steadiness | 3.8 | |
| Manual Dexterity | 3.8 | |
| Multilimb Coordination | 3.8 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 3.6 | |
| Oral Expression | 3.6 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.6 | |
| Finger Dexterity | 3.5 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.4 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 3.4 | |
| Selective Attention | 3.4 | |
| Rate Control | 3.4 | |
| Written Expression | 3.3 | |
| Written Comprehension | 3.1 | |
| Category Flexibility | 3.1 | |
| Perceptual Speed | 3.1 | |
| Reaction Time | 3.1 | |
| Auditory Attention | 3.1 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.1 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.1 |
Knowledge
| Mechanical | 3.9 | |
| Mathematics | 3.8 | |
| Administration and Management | 3.3 | |
| Education and Training | 3.2 | |
| Personnel and Human Resources | 3.1 |
Essential skills
| Critical Thinking | 3.6 | |
| Monitoring | 3.5 | |
| Active Listening | 3.4 | |
| Speaking | 3.3 | |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.1 | |
| Writing | 3.0 | |
| Learning Strategies | 3.0 |
Transferable skills
| Operations Monitoring | 3.6 | |
| Operation and Control | 3.6 | |
| Instructing | 3.4 | |
| Coordination | 3.3 | |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.1 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.1 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Tools & technology
| Example | Category | |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Excel | Spreadsheet software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Office software | Office suite software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Word | Word processing software | Hot technology |
| Python | Object or component oriented development software | Hot technology |
| Salesforce software | Customer relationship management CRM software | Hot technology |
| SAP software | Enterprise resource planning ERP software | Hot technology |
| CAPSHER Technology SureTec | Industrial control software | |
| Drillingsoftware DrillPro | Industrial control software | |
| Drillingsoftware Tubular Database | Data base user interface and query software | |
| Pason WellView Field Solution | Data base user interface and query software | |
| Schlumberger Petrel E&P | Analytical or scientific software | |
| Structure query language SQL | Data base user interface and query software |
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 2 — Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Education
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- Typical entry-level education
- No formal educational credential · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
- Related experience
- Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
- Preparation level
- SVP (Below 6.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
What to study: Construction Trades . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| Less than a High School Diploma | 31.1% | |
| High School Diploma | 28.7% | |
| Some College Courses | 22.1% | |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 9.1% | |
| Bachelor's Degree | 8.9% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Realistic | 7.0 | |
| Conventional | 3.8 | |
| Investigative | 3.0 | |
| Enterprising | 2.2 |
Interest areas
| Physical/Manual Labor | 6.0 | |
| Mechanics/Electronics | 5.6 | |
| Engineering | 3.9 | |
| Transportation/Machine Operation | 3.3 | |
| Management/Administration | 2.7 | |
| Human Resources | 1.9 |
Work styles
| Dependability | 4.0 | |
| Attention to Detail | 3.0 | |
| Cautiousness | 2.5 | |
| Stress Tolerance | 2.2 | |
| Perseverance | 2.0 | |
| Leadership Orientation | 1.9 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $42,750 |
| 25th percentile | $52,600 |
| Median (50th) | $65,010 |
| 75th percentile | $81,550 |
| 90th percentile | $98,510 |
| People employed | 13,090 |
Industries that employ this occupation
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction · Sector | 12,220 | $65,210 |
| Construction · Sector | 290 | $59,840 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 290 | $59,560 |
| Engineering Services · National industry | 190 | $71,990 |
| Transportation and Warehousing · Sector | 100 | $79,690 |
| Testing Laboratories and Services · National industry | 80 | $48,190 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 40 | $59,780 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | 40 | $66,190 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | 30 | $66,190 |
| Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors · National industry | — | $58,180 |
Where this work is most concentrated
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction · Sector | 250.99× | 12,220 |
| Engineering Services · National industry | 1.94× | 190 |
| Construction · Sector | 0.42× | 290 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 0.32× | 290 |
| Transportation and Warehousing · Sector | 0.16× | 100 |
Related occupations
Part of the Energy & Natural Resources career cluster.
- Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas · 47-5023.00 Compare →
- Helpers--Extraction Workers · 47-5081.00 Compare →
- Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas · 47-5013.00 Compare →
- Roustabouts, Oil and Gas · 47-5071.00 Compare →
- Wellhead Pumpers · 53-7073.00 Compare →
- Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas · 47-5011.00 Compare →
- Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic · 51-4032.00 Compare →
- Continuous Mining Machine Operators · 47-5041.00 Compare →
- Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers · 51-8093.00 Compare →
- Dredge Operators · 53-7031.00 Compare →
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators · 47-2073.00 Compare →
- Maintenance Workers, Machinery · 49-9043.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- No formal educational credential · typical entry level
- Job zone 2 — Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed · preparation tier
- Construction Trades · field of study
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 30th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas show 13th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,200 annual U.S. openings
- Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas rank in the 13th percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
- The occupation is projected to see about 1,200 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- BLS projects employment to be about average (+0.2%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $65,010, across about 13,090 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas show 13th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,200 annual U.S. openings • Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas rank in the 13th percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 1,200 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be about average (+0.2%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $65,010, across about 13,090 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-5012-00 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-5012-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-5012-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-47-5012-00,
title = {Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-5012-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.