# Wellhead Pumpers

> Operate power pumps and auxiliary equipment to produce flow of oil or gas from wells in oil field.

- **SOC code:** 53-7073.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-53-7073-00
- **Also known as:** Field Operator, Lease Operator, Pumper, Well Tender, Lease Attendant, Oilfield Plant Operator, Well Field Technician, Well Head Pumper
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Monitor pumps and flow lines for gas and fluid leaks.
- Gauge oil and gas production.
- Start compressor engines and divert oil from storage tanks into compressor units and auxiliary equipment to recover natural gas from oil.
- Monitor control panels during pumping operations to ensure that materials are being pumped at the correct pressure, density, rate, and concentration.
- Operate engines and pumps to shut off wells according to production schedules, and to switch flow of oil into storage tanks.
- Open valves to return compressed gas to bottoms of specified wells to repressurize them and force oil to surface.
- Change water filters.
- Repair gas and oil meters and gauges.
- Prepare trucks and equipment necessary for the type of pumping service required.
- Perform routine maintenance on vehicles and equipment.
- Attach pumps and hoses to wellheads.
- Mix acids, chemicals, or dry cement as required for a specific job.

**Emerging tasks** (O*NET):
- Conduct regular inspections of equipment using drones or other advanced technology.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Operations Monitoring _(transferable_skill)_
- Operation and Control _(transferable_skill)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Mechanical _(knowledge)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Information Ordering _(ability)_
- Control Precision _(ability)_
- Multilimb Coordination _(ability)_
- Reaction Time _(ability)_
- Critical Thinking _(essential_skill)_
- Monitoring _(essential_skill)_
- Equipment Maintenance _(transferable_skill)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Equipment Maintenance _(Specialized Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Microsoft Word _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Complex Problem Solving _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- SAP software _(hot technology)_
- Moxa software
- Operational databases
- Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 9th percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 14th percentile (Low) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 3rd percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 23rd percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 69th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** -4.7% growth (Declining); 2k annual openings; 18.8k → 17.9k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $70,010; 17,350 employed.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-53-7073-00_