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 →Gas Plant Operators
Occupation · SOC 51-8092.00
Distribute or process gas for utility companies and others by controlling compressors to maintain specified pressures on main pipelines.
Also called: Gas Controller · Gas Dispatcher · Gas Plant Operator · Plant Operator · Compressor Technician (Compressor Tech) · Engine Room Operator · Gas Resource Control Operator · Gas System Operator · Liquefied Natural Gas Technician (LNG Technician) · Liquid Natural Gas Plant Operator (LNG Plant Operator) · Bulk Gas Specialist · Field Gauger
Job family: Production Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-51-8092-00/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.
- Declining employment outlook (-8.8% by 2034)
- 1,300 openings/yr
- Low AI exposure
- Median pay $83,400/yr
- Work is mostly on-site (not teleworkable)
- 2013 flagged this for computerization (63rd); today's AI task-overlap is comparatively low (28th)
28th-percentile task overlap — yet about 1,300 openings a year (-8.8% 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.) Moderate | 40th | -0.3 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Low | 17th | 0.1 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Low | 31st | 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 0.8 · 63rd percentile among occupations · Moderate
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.
| Test gas, chemicals, and air during processing to assess factors such as purity and moisture content, and to detect quality problems or gas or chemical leaks. | 0.4% | |
| Record, review, and compile operations records, test results, and gauge readings such as temperatures, pressures, concentrations, and flows. | 0.2% |
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | Declining · -8.8% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 1,300 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 16,200 → 14,800 |
“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.
Gas Plant Operators sits at the 55th 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.
29% mean task exposure (2025)
55th percentile of 427 placed occupations
−1 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Petroleum and Natural Gas Refining Plant Operators · 3134 | 29% | 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.
- Monitor equipment functioning, observe temperature, level, and flow gauges, and perform regular unit checks to ensure that all equipment is operating as it should. Core · importance 4.7
- Distribute or process gas for utility companies or industrial plants, using panel boards, control boards, and semi-automatic equipment. Supplemental · importance 4.6
- Control equipment to regulate flow and pressure of gas to feedlines of boilers, furnaces, and related steam-generating or heating equipment. Supplemental · importance 4.5
- Control operation of compressors, scrubbers, evaporators, and refrigeration equipment to liquefy, compress, or regasify natural gas. Core · importance 4.5
- Record, review, and compile operations records, test results, and gauge readings such as temperatures, pressures, concentrations, and flows. Core · importance 4.4
- Determine causes of abnormal pressure variances, and make corrective recommendations, such as installation of pipes to relieve overloading. Core · importance 4.4
- Adjust temperature, pressure, vacuum, level, flow rate, or transfer of gas to maintain processes at required levels or to correct problems. Core · importance 4.3
- Collaborate with other operators to solve unit problems. Core · importance 4.3
- Monitor transportation and storage of flammable and other potentially dangerous products to ensure that safety guidelines are followed. Core · importance 4.3
- Start and shut down plant equipment. Core · importance 4.3
- Control fractioning columns, compressors, purifying towers, heat exchangers, and related equipment to extract nitrogen and oxygen from air. Supplemental · importance 4.2
- Read logsheets to determine product demand and disposition, or to detect malfunctions. Core · importance 4.2
- Contact maintenance crews when necessary. Core · importance 4.0
- Test gas, chemicals, and air during processing to assess factors such as purity and moisture content, and to detect quality problems or gas or chemical leaks. Core · importance 4.0
- Clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using hand tools, or request that repair and maintenance work be performed. Core · importance 4.0
- Signal or direct workers who tend auxiliary equipment. Supplemental · importance 3.9
- Calculate gas ratios to detect deviations from specifications, using testing apparatus. Supplemental · importance 3.8
- Operate construction equipment to install and maintain gas distribution systems. Supplemental · importance 3.4
- Change charts in recording meters. Core · importance 3.3
Work activities
- Monitor equipment operation to ensure proper functioning.
- Inspect production equipment.
- Operate natural gas distribution equipment.
- Operate natural gas generation equipment.
- Record operational or production data.
- Adjust equipment controls to regulate gas flow.
- Clean production equipment.
- Repair production equipment or tools.
- Maintain production or processing equipment.
- Confer with others to resolve production problems or equipment malfunctions.
- Diagnose equipment malfunctions.
- Advise others on ways to improve processes or products.
- Read work orders or other instructions to determine product specifications or materials requirements.
- Test chemical or physical characteristics of materials or products.
- Notify others of equipment repair or maintenance needs.
- Analyze test results.
- Signal others to coordinate work activities.
- Direct operational or production activities.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Transferable skills
| Operations Monitoring | 4.1 | |
| Operation and Control | 3.8 | |
| Quality Control Analysis | 3.3 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.3 | |
| Coordination | 3.0 | |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.0 | |
| Troubleshooting | 3.0 | |
| Time Management | 3.0 |
Knowledge
Abilities
| Perceptual Speed | 3.9 | |
| Near Vision | 3.8 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.6 | |
| Auditory Attention | 3.5 | |
| Selective Attention | 3.4 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 3.3 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.3 | |
| Flexibility of Closure | 3.3 | |
| Far Vision | 3.3 | |
| Written Comprehension | 3.1 | |
| Written Expression | 3.1 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.1 | |
| Reaction Time | 3.1 | |
| Oral Expression | 3.0 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 3.0 | |
| Category Flexibility | 3.0 | |
| Visualization | 3.0 |
Essential skills
| Monitoring | 3.6 | |
| Critical Thinking | 3.5 | |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.1 | |
| Active Listening | 3.0 | |
| Writing | 3.0 | |
| Speaking | 3.0 |
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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Google Android | Operating system software | Hot technology In demand |
| Microsoft Excel | Spreadsheet software | Hot technology In demand |
| Microsoft Office software | Office suite software | Hot technology In demand |
| Microsoft Outlook | Electronic mail software | Hot technology In demand |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | Presentation software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Word | Word processing software | Hot technology |
| SAP software | Enterprise resource planning ERP software | Hot technology |
| AspenTech HYSYS | Analytical or scientific software | |
| Operating log software | Data base user interface and query software | |
| Quorum PGAS | Data base user interface and query software | |
| Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software | Industrial control software | |
| Work scheduling software | Calendar and scheduling 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
- High school diploma or equivalent · 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.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| High School Diploma | 58.4% | |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 31.1% | |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 10.5% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Realistic | 6.7 | |
| Conventional | 5.2 | |
| Investigative | 2.6 | |
| Enterprising | 2.3 |
Work styles
| Dependability | 5.0 | |
| Attention to Detail | 4.0 | |
| Integrity | 3.0 | |
| Cautiousness | 2.7 | |
| Self-Control | 2.0 | |
| Stress Tolerance | 2.0 |
Interest areas
| Mechanics/Electronics | 4.7 | |
| Engineering | 3.6 | |
| Transportation/Machine Operation | 2.3 | |
| Physical/Manual Labor | 2.3 | |
| Mathematics/Statistics | 2.1 | |
| Physical Science | 1.9 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $59,040 |
| 25th percentile | $73,150 |
| Median (50th) | $83,400 |
| 75th percentile | $100,000 |
| 90th percentile | $109,350 |
| People employed | 15,910 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Utilities · Sector | 6,680 | $84,980 |
| Transportation and Warehousing · Sector | 4,930 | $82,680 |
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction · Sector | 1,400 | $82,110 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 1,040 | $105,030 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 400 | $89,410 |
| Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation · National industry | 280 | $95,640 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | 180 | $60,420 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 120 | $54,670 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Utilities · Sector | 111.72× | 6,680 |
| Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation · National industry | 38.06× | 280 |
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction · Sector | 23.66× | 1,400 |
| Transportation and Warehousing · Sector | 6.46× | 4,930 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 1.38× | 400 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 0.79× | 1,040 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 0.19× | 120 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | 0.19× | 180 |
Related occupations
Part of the Energy & Natural Resources career cluster.
- Power Plant Operators · 51-8013.00 Compare →
- Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers · 51-8093.00 Compare →
- Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators · 53-7071.00 Compare →
- Biomass Plant Technicians · 51-8013.03 Compare →
- Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators · 51-8021.00 Compare →
- Chemical Plant and System Operators · 51-8091.00 Compare →
- Hydroelectric Plant Technicians · 51-8013.04 Compare →
- Wellhead Pumpers · 53-7073.00 Compare →
- Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers · 53-7072.00 Compare →
- Power Distributors and Dispatchers · 51-8012.00 Compare →
- Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators · 51-8031.00 Compare →
- Geothermal Technicians · 49-9099.01 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 Gas Plant Operators — 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.
- High school diploma or equivalent · 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 55th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Gas Plant Operators show 28th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,300 annual U.S. openings
- Gas Plant Operators rank in the 28th 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 1,300 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 declining (-8.8%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $83,400, across about 15,910 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Gas Plant Operators show 28th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,300 annual U.S. openings • Gas Plant Operators rank in the 28th 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 1,300 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 declining (-8.8%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $83,400, across about 15,910 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Gas Plant Operators". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-51-8092-00 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. "Gas Plant Operators." 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-51-8092-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Gas Plant Operators. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-51-8092-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-51-8092-00,
title = {Gas Plant Operators},
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-51-8092-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.