AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas?

Task-level automation exposure for Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas: 15 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

17% weighted task index

15 of 15 tasks scored

Median Salary

$58,620 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Low

10,590 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+1.6% employment change

900 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 19 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$45,180 – $86,980

Highest medians

Louisiana $86,980

Alaska $78,050

Wyoming $76,750

North Dakota $71,850

Florida $64,950

Lowest medians

Michigan $45,180

Illinois $45,900

Mississippi $47,340

Alabama $49,350

Arkansas $50,070

State figures come from the 47-5011 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 17%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 71%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 14%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 7%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 6/100 Low

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

15 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 0%

0 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 7%

1 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 93%

14 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#9895 · Core · 15% automatable

Start pumps that circulate mud through drill pipes and boreholes to cool drill bits and flush out drill cuttings.

physical manipulation — Hands-on pump and compressor operation

Operate pumps or compressors.

#9891 · Core · 12% automatable

Control the viscosity and weight of the drilling fluid.

physical manipulation — Physical handling of substances in workspace

Mix substances or compounds needed for work activities.

#9894 · Core · 30% automatable

Listen to mud pumps and check regularly for vibration and other problems to ensure that rig pumps and drilling mud systems are working properly.

visual inspection — Extraction operations oversight is physical, hazardous, human-led

Monitor extraction operations.

#9889 · Core · 18% automatable

Inspect derricks, or order their inspection, prior to being raised or lowered.

visual inspection — Construction equipment inspection is physical, hands-on

Inspect equipment or tools to be used in construction or excavation.

#9899 · Core · 54% automatable

Prepare mud reports, and instruct crews about the handling of any chemical additives.

text generation — Generate operational reports from structured data

Prepare operational reports. Train construction or extraction personnel.

#9896 · Core · 8% automatable

Position and align derrick elements, using harnesses and platform climbing devices.

physical manipulation — Hands-on positioning of heavy construction equipment

Position construction or extraction equipment.

#9890 · Core · 14% automatable

Inspect derricks for flaws, and clean and oil derricks to maintain proper working conditions.

visual inspection — Construction equipment inspection is physical, hands-on

Inspect equipment or tools to be used in construction or excavation. Clean equipment or facilities. Maintain drilling equipment.

#9897 · Core · 24% automatable

Supervise crew members, and provide assistance in training them.

physical manipulation — Construction training requires hands-on demonstration and safety

Train construction or extraction personnel. Direct construction or extraction personnel.

#9892 · Core · 15% automatable

Repair pumps, mud tanks, and related equipment.

physical manipulation — Hands-on drilling equipment maintenance

Maintain drilling equipment.

#9903 · Core · 6% automatable

Steady pipes during connection to or disconnection from drill or casing strings.

physical manipulation — Rig drilling equipment installation is heavy field work

Install drilling equipment.

#9901 · Core · 18% automatable

Weigh clay, and mix with water and chemicals to make drilling mud, using portable mixers.

physical manipulation — Physical measurement for assembly fitting

Measure materials or objects for installation or assembly. Mix substances or compounds needed for work activities.

#9898 · Core · 6% automatable

Guide lengths of pipe into and out of elevators.

physical manipulation — Rig drilling equipment installation is heavy field work

Install drilling equipment.

#9900 · Core · 10% automatable

Clamp holding fixtures on ends of hoisting cables.

physical manipulation — Crane/hoist operation demands real-time physical control

Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.

#9902 · Core · 10% automatable

String cables through pulleys and blocks.

physical manipulation — Crane/hoist operation demands real-time physical control

Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.

#9893 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Set and bolt crown blocks to posts at tops of derricks.

physical manipulation — Erecting temporary structures requires physical assembly

Assemble temporary equipment or structures.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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