Operate auxiliary equipment and control multiple processing units during distilling or treating operations, moving controls that regulate valves, pumps, compressors, and auxiliary equipment.

“Operate auxiliary equipment and control multiple processing units during distilling or treating operations, moving controls that regulate valves, pumps, compressors, and auxiliary equipment.” is a core task performed by Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers. Among the occupation's 24 rated tasks, workers place it 15th by importance (#10 most important). About 78% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Operate pumping systems or equipment. in Controlling Machines and Processes

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T0.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Signal other workers by telephone or radio to operate pumps, open and close valves, and check temperatures. · importance 4.3
• Maintain and repair equipment, or report malfunctioning equipment to supervisors so that repairs can be scheduled. · importance 4.3
• Monitor process indicators, instruments, gauges, and meters to detect and report any possible problems. · importance 4.3
• Start pumps and open valves or use automated equipment to regulate the flow of oil in pipelines and into and out of tanks. · importance 4.2
• Operate control panels to coordinate and regulate process variables such as temperature and pressure, and to direct product flow rate, according to process schedules. · importance 4.2
• Verify that incoming and outgoing products are moving through the correct meters, and that meters are working properly. · importance 4.2
• Patrol units to monitor the amount of oil in storage tanks, and to verify that activities and operations are safe, efficient, and in compliance with regulations. · importance 4.1
• Plan movement of products through lines to processing, storage, and shipping units, using knowledge of system interconnections and capacities. · importance 4.1
• Control or operate manifold and pumping systems to circulate liquids through a petroleum refinery. · importance 4.1
• Collect product samples by turning bleeder valves, or by lowering containers into tanks to obtain oil samples. · importance 4.1
• Read automatic gauges at specified intervals to determine the flow rate of oil into or from tanks, and the amount of oil in tanks. · importance 4.0
• Read and analyze specifications, schedules, logs, test results, and laboratory recommendations to determine how to set equipment controls to produce the required qualities and quantities of products. · importance 4.0
• Synchronize activities with other pumphouses to ensure a continuous flow of products and a minimum of contamination between products. · importance 4.0
• Record and compile operating data, instrument readings, documentation, and results of laboratory analyses. · importance 4.0

See all tasks on the Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers page.

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
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-14312,
  title  = {Operate auxiliary equipment and control multiple processing units during distilling or treating operations, moving controls that regulate valves, pumps, compressors, and auxiliary equipment.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-14312}
}