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 →Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas
Occupation · SOC 47-5013.00
Operate equipment to increase oil flow from producing wells or to remove stuck pipe, casing, tools, or other obstructions from drilling wells. Includes fishing-tool technicians.
Also called: Pulling Unit Operator · Rig Operator · Service Operator · Service Rig Operator · Reverse Unit Operator · Tool Pusher · Well Servicing Rig Operator · Wireline Operator · Coiled Tubing Operator · Fishing Tool Operator · Gather Operator · Oil Processing Technician
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-47-5013-00/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 (+0.4% by 2034)
- 4,100 openings/yr
- Low AI exposure
- Median pay $57,980/yr
- Work is mostly on-site (not teleworkable)
- 2013 flagged this for computerization (84th); today's AI task-overlap is comparatively low (10th)
10th-percentile task overlap — yet about 4,100 openings a year (+0.4% 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 | 18th | -1.0 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Low | 9th | 0.1 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Low | 14th | 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.
Mixed signals. Today's AI/LLM studies show relatively low exposure for this job, but the older (2013) Frey–Osborne work rated it higher for computerization and robotics. Different eras, different technologies — the AI measures above reflect the current state.
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 0.9 · 84th percentile among occupations · High
How AI is actually used in this job
Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.
| Interpret instrument readings to ascertain the depth of obstruction. | 2.0% |
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 · +0.4% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 4,100 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 45,200 → 45,400 |
“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.
Service Unit 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 19 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Maintain and perform safety inspections on equipment and tools. Core · importance 4.6
- Operate controls that raise derricks or level rigs. Core · importance 4.5
- Listen to engines, rotary chains, or other equipment to detect faulty operations or unusual well conditions. Core · importance 4.5
- Prepare reports of services rendered, tools used, or time required, for billing purposes. Core · importance 4.4
- Install pressure-control devices onto wellheads. Core · importance 4.3
- Direct drilling crews performing activities such as assembling and connecting pipe, applying weights to drill pipes, or drilling around lodged obstacles. Supplemental · importance 4.3
- Confer with others to gather information regarding pipe or tool sizes or borehole conditions in wells. Core · importance 4.2
- Operate pumps that circulate water, oil, or other fluids through wells to remove sand or other materials obstructing the free flow of oil. Core · importance 4.2
- Drive truck-mounted units to well sites. Core · importance 4.1
- Interpret instrument readings to ascertain the depth of obstruction. Core · importance 4.1
- Thread cables through derrick pulleys, using hand tools. Core · importance 4.0
- Select fishing methods or tools for removing obstacles such as liners, broken casing, screens, or drill pipe. Core · importance 3.9
- Apply green technologies or techniques, such as the use of coiled tubing, slim-hole drilling, horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, or gas lift systems. Supplemental · importance 3.8
- Operate specialized equipment to remove obstructions by backing off or severing pipes by chemical or explosive action. Supplemental · importance 3.8
- Close and seal wells no longer in use. Core · importance 3.8
- Perforate well casings or sidewalls of boreholes with explosive charges. Supplemental · importance 3.7
- Examine unserviceable wells to determine actions to be taken to improve well conditions. Supplemental · importance 3.5
- Monitor sound wave-generating or detecting mechanisms to determine well fluid levels. Supplemental · importance 3.3
- Insert detection instruments into wells with obstructions. Supplemental · importance 3.2
Emerging tasks
Newer responsibilities O*NET has flagged as growing for this occupation.
- Maintain and perform safety inspections on rigs, equipment, and other tools.
Work activities
- Apply new technologies to improve work processes.
- Inspect equipment or tools to be used in construction or excavation.
- Maintain extraction or excavation equipment.
- Monitor extraction operations.
- Communicate with other construction or extraction personnel to discuss project details.
- Drive trucks or truck-mounted equipment.
- Install plumbing or piping.
- Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.
- Operate pumps or compressors.
- Prepare excavation or extraction sites for commissioning or decommissioning.
- Direct construction or extraction personnel.
- Operate detonation equipment.
- Prepare operational reports.
- Select construction equipment.
- Measure work site dimensions.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Knowledge
| Mechanical | 4.0 | |
| Mathematics | 3.9 | |
| Customer and Personal Service | 3.7 | |
| Engineering and Technology | 3.4 | |
| Public Safety and Security | 3.3 | |
| Education and Training | 3.2 | |
| English Language | 3.1 | |
| Sales and Marketing | 3.1 | |
| Chemistry | 3.1 | |
| Administration and Management | 3.1 | |
| Transportation | 3.1 |
Transferable skills
| Operations Monitoring | 4.0 | |
| Operation and Control | 3.8 | |
| Troubleshooting | 3.4 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.3 | |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.1 | |
| Equipment Maintenance | 3.1 |
Abilities
| Problem Sensitivity | 4.0 | |
| Arm-Hand Steadiness | 4.0 | |
| Control Precision | 4.0 | |
| Multilimb Coordination | 3.8 | |
| Near Vision | 3.6 | |
| Reaction Time | 3.5 | |
| Hearing Sensitivity | 3.5 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 3.4 | |
| Perceptual Speed | 3.4 | |
| Selective Attention | 3.4 | |
| Manual Dexterity | 3.4 | |
| Oral Expression | 3.3 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 3.3 | |
| Far Vision | 3.3 | |
| Auditory Attention | 3.3 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.3 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.3 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.1 | |
| Flexibility of Closure | 3.1 | |
| Visualization | 3.1 |
Essential skills
| Critical Thinking | 3.8 | |
| Monitoring | 3.6 | |
| Active Listening | 3.4 |
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
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: Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
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 | 4.1 | |
| Investigative | 2.6 | |
| Enterprising | 1.8 |
Interest areas
| Physical/Manual Labor | 5.9 | |
| Mechanics/Electronics | 5.3 | |
| Transportation/Machine Operation | 5.3 | |
| Engineering | 3.6 | |
| Physical Science | 1.8 | |
| Mathematics/Statistics | 1.6 | |
| Management/Administration | 1.6 |
Work styles
| Dependability | 4.0 | |
| Attention to Detail | 3.0 | |
| Cautiousness | 2.5 | |
| Stress Tolerance | 2.1 | |
| Perseverance | 1.8 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $40,010 |
| 25th percentile | $47,330 |
| Median (50th) | $57,980 |
| 75th percentile | $70,510 |
| 90th percentile | $93,820 |
| People employed | 44,120 |
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 | 39,640 | $57,450 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing · Sector | 1,600 | $59,830 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 1,060 | $48,610 |
| Utilities · Sector | 610 | $79,150 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 320 | $66,690 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 170 | $62,800 |
| Engineering Services · National industry | 60 | $62,800 |
| Construction · Sector | 40 | $63,810 |
| Transportation and Warehousing · Sector | — | $85,790 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | — | $50,570 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | — | $50,570 |
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 | 241.56× | 39,640 |
| Utilities · Sector | 3.68× | 610 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing · Sector | 2.36× | 1,600 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 0.29× | 1,060 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 0.19× | 320 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 0.06× | 170 |
Related occupations
Part of the Energy & Natural Resources career cluster.
- Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas · 47-5012.00 Compare →
- Roustabouts, Oil and Gas · 47-5071.00 Compare →
- Wellhead Pumpers · 53-7073.00 Compare →
- Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers · 51-8093.00 Compare →
- Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas · 47-5023.00 Compare →
- Helpers--Extraction Workers · 47-5081.00 Compare →
- Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers · 53-7072.00 Compare →
- Gas Plant Operators · 51-8092.00 Compare →
- Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators · 53-7071.00 Compare →
- Power Plant Operators · 51-8013.00 Compare →
- Industrial Machinery Mechanics · 49-9041.00 Compare →
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators · 47-2073.00 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 Service Unit 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
- Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians · 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
Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas show 10th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 4,100 annual U.S. openings
- Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas rank in the 10th 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 4,100 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 (+0.4%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $57,980, across about 44,120 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas show 10th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 4,100 annual U.S. openings • Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas rank in the 10th 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 4,100 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 (+0.4%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $57,980, across about 44,120 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-5013-00 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
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- 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. "Service Unit 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; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); 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-47-5013-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-5013-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-47-5013-00,
title = {Service Unit 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; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); 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-47-5013-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.