US dataswitch to UK
Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas
training crews, maintaining and adjusting machinery to ensure proper performance and directing rig crews in drilling and other activities. If that's your week, this page is about your job.
The honest answer
AI changes the edges of this job, not the middle: connecting sections of drill pipe is work software can't reach.
What shifts is maintaining records of footage. This page scores what today's tools actually do, not headlines.
Your week, as this page understands it
Set up or operate a variety of drills to remove underground oil and gas, or remove core samples for testing during oil and gas exploration. The job title says “rotary drill operators”, “oil” or “gas”: officially one job, several names. The real job is the part underneath: connecting sections of drill pipe. That is the thing someone has to be right about.
The exposed part of this job is specific, and we won’t pretend it is coming back. But rotary drill operators, oil and gas is not one task. It is 20 scored ones, and they are nowhere near equally exposed. The most durable of them, on this evidence, is connecting sections of drill pipe, and the ledger below shows exactly why.
Where the work sits, by task weight
- shifting to AI
- 6%
- changing shape
- 0%
- staying human
- 94%
These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.
Whole-job exposure score 7 out of 100 (5–12 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, across 20 scored tasks. The number is the support for the sentence above it, not a headline about anyone’s future.
How we know this
What is measured: Every published task statement for rotary drill operators, oil and gas is rated on five dimensions: can a model produce the output, does the work need a body in a room, does it need a legally accountable person, does it depend on a person being trusted in the moment, and how much data exists. A published formula turns those five ratings into the score; the model never writes the number.
How the bar is built: Each task’s share of the bar is its published importance weight, so a task you do all day counts for more than one you do twice a year.
Release: 2026-q4.1, scores computed 2026-08-05. Read the full method.
Your job, task by task
These are the official task statements for this occupation, in plain English, sorted by what the evidence says is happening to each one. The official wording sits under every line so you can check the rewrite against it.
- 1 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
Shifting to AI
1 taskTasks today’s tools can already do most of. This is the part we will not soften: where these rows are the bulk of your week, the week changes.
Maintaining records of footage
This is reading one thing and writing another: records of footage in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Maintain records of footage drilled, location and nature of strata penetrated, materials and tools used, services rendered, and time required.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 69 out of 100 (65–73 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Keeping drilling records is routine written record-keeping that software can produce from rig data.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Changing shape
0 tasksTasks where the machine takes the producing and a person keeps the checking, the deciding, or the answering-for-it. For most jobs this is the biggest group, and it is where "transformation, not termination" is literally visible.
Nothing in this job’s scored task list landed in this group. That is the measurement, not an editorial choice, and it is worth knowing either way.
Staying human
19 tasksTasks that stay with a person, because they happen in the physical world, because the rules need someone accountable, or because the value is that a specific person does them.
Connecting sections of drill pipe
This work happens in the physical world: sections of drill pipe, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Connect sections of drill pipe, using hand tools and powered wrenches and tongs.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Making up drill pipe with tongs and powered wrenches is heavy manual work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Observing pressure gauge and moving throttles and levers to control the speed of rotary tables
This work happens in the physical world: pressure gauge, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Observe pressure gauge and move throttles and levers to control the speed of rotary tables, and to regulate pressure of tools at bottoms of boreholes.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Watching gauges and working throttles and levers is hands-on rig operation.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Maintaining and adjusting machinery to ensure proper performance
This work happens in the physical world: machinery, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Maintain and adjust machinery to ensure proper performance.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Maintaining and adjusting rig machinery is hands-on mechanical work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Counting sections of drill rod to determine depths of boreholes
This work happens in the physical world: sections of drill rod, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Count sections of drill rod to determine depths of boreholes.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 14 out of 100 (7–21 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Counting rod sections to work out depth is simple arithmetic, but the counting happens on the rig floor.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Locating and recovering lost or broken bits
This work happens in the physical world: lost, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Locate and recover lost or broken bits, casings, and drill pipes from wells, using special tools.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 8 out of 100 (4–12 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Fishing lost tools out of a well needs specialist equipment worked down the hole.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Repairing or replacing defective parts of machinery
This work happens in the physical world: defective parts of machinery, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Repair or replace defective parts of machinery, such as rotary drill rigs, water trucks, air compressors, and pumps, using hand tools.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Repairing rig machinery with hand tools is physical work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Pushing levers and brake pedals to control gasoline
This work happens in the physical world: levers, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Push levers and brake pedals to control gasoline, diesel, electric, or steam draw works that lower and raise drill pipes and casings in and out of wells.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Working the draw works controls to raise and lower pipe is physical operation.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Training crews and introduce procedures to make drill work more safe and effective
This work happens in the physical world: crews, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Train crews, and introduce procedures to make drill work more safe and effective.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 8 out of 100 (1–15 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Training a rig crew means demonstrating and watching them work safely on the rig itself.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Directing rig crews in drilling and other activities
This work happens in the physical world: rig crews, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Direct rig crews in drilling and other activities, such as setting up rigs and completing or servicing wells.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 6 out of 100 (0–13 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Directing a rig crew means being on the rig, seeing conditions and giving orders in the moment.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Show the other 10 tasks
Monitoring progress of drilling operations
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: progress of drilling operations, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Monitor progress of drilling operations, and select and change drill bits according to the nature of strata, using hand tools.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 14 out of 100 (7–21 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Choosing the right bit for the rock is an informed decision, but changing it is heavy manual work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Removing core samples during drilling to determine the nature of the strata
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: core samples, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Remove core samples during drilling to determine the nature of the strata being drilled.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 8 out of 100 (4–12 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Pulling core samples during drilling means handling the core at the rig.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Starting and examining operation of slush pumps to ensure circulation and consistency of drilling fluid or mud in well
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: operation of slush pumps, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Start and examine operation of slush pumps to ensure circulation and consistency of drilling fluid or mud in well.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Starting and checking mud pumps is done at the equipment.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Weighing clay and mixing with water and chemicals to make drilling mud
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: clay, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Weigh clay, and mix with water and chemicals to make drilling mud.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Weighing clay and mixing drilling mud is physical work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Cleaning and oiling pulleys, blocks and cables
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: pulleys, blocks and cables, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Clean and oil pulleys, blocks, and cables.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Cleaning and oiling blocks and cables is manual maintenance.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Bolting together pump and engine parts
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: together pump, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Bolt together pump and engine parts, and connect tanks and flow lines.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Bolting pump and engine parts and connecting flow lines is physical work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Capping wells with packers or turn valves, to regulate outflow of oil from wells
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: wells, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Cap wells with packers, or turn valves, to regulate outflow of oil from wells.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Fitting packers and turning valves at the wellhead is physical work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Lining drilled holes with pipes
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: drilled holes, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Line drilled holes with pipes, and install all necessary hardware, to prepare new wells.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Lining a hole with pipe and installing hardware is heavy manual work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Positioning and preparing truck-mounted derricks at drilling areas specified on field maps
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: truck-mounted derricks, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Position and prepare truck-mounted derricks at drilling areas specified on field maps.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Moving and setting up a truck-mounted derrick on site is physical work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Plugging observation wells and restoring sites
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: observation wells, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 3 · SupplementalSource: “Plug observation wells, and restore sites.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Plugging wells and restoring the site is physical work in the field.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
What this job pays, and how many people do it
- Median pay
- $67,890a year, the middle of the range, so half earn more and half earn less.bls-oews, 2025 · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
How we know this
Source: bls-oews
Reference period: May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
Rounding: Shown as published.
- People doing this job
- 12,600in the US, 2025.bls-oews · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
What is deliberately not here: a forecast of how many of these jobs exist in ten years. Where an official projection exists for a market we publish it with its vintage; where it does not, we leave the space empty rather than borrow the other country’s number.
Why this is shifting
The reason is boringly specific. Most of what is shifting here is reading one thing and writing another: records of footage in, a record out. The rows above are exactly that shape: maintaining records of footage. What it cannot do is be there in the room, and that is still where sections of drill pipe get done. Which is why this page talks about your tasks changing, not your job ending.
Your move
Over a pint: what I’d tell you if you were my friend
Start with what does not change: connecting sections of drill pipe is the middle of this job, and the evidence on this page says it stays with a person.
So, given all that: 6% of this job's task weight sits in rows the software is already learning, 0% in rows that change shape rather than disappear, and 94% in rows it is nowhere near. That is the position, measured across 20 scored tasks. It is not a forecast about you.
So the thing worth your attention is not the job going away. It is the layer around it. Maintaining records of footage is the part turning into software, and being the person who understands that layer is worth money.
This week: one thing
Ask the one question. Find whoever is bringing new software into your workplace (the manager, the office, whoever runs the system) and ask them what it is meant to do to records of footage, and what it is not meant to touch. Ten minutes, this week, before anyone decides it for you.
- What you end up holding
- a straight answer about what is actually being rolled out, and when
- How long it takes
- ten minutes
If there’s nobody obvious to ask, or you’d rather not ask your manager: Put the same question to your union rep, your shift lead or the person who has been there longest, in person, over a break. Same ten minutes, same answer, and you will usually get a straighter one. Write down what they say. The note is the artifact, and it tells you whether sections of drill pipe are in scope or not. Nothing to log into, no license needed.
Over the next 90 days
Get inside the tool rollout rather than waiting for it. Over the next ninety days, ask to be in the group that tests, checks or signs off whatever new system arrives near connecting sections of drill pipe. It is usually an unglamorous seat that nobody fights for, and it is the one that decides how the software is used on your job rather than to it.
Over the next 12 months
On this evidence I would not retrain out of this job, and I will say that plainly rather than hedge it. The task list here is dominated by work that stays with a person. What I would do with a year is get formally recognised for the layer around it (the systems, the compliance, the planning), so you are the one who understands the software instead of the one it is done to. Before you pay for anything, use CareerOneStop - Find local training. It is free, it is the Labor Department's own service, and it is listed below with the rest of the free routes.
The roads out of here, and why I am not sending you down them
I looked at the obvious moves out of this job, and here is what I found.
I checked the 12 nearest US occupations to rotary drill operators, oil and gas (nearest by the work that AI is not taking, not by job title), and none of them survived. The closest was earth drillers, except oil and gas: only about 13% of its durable work is work you already do and it pays 11.3% less. And on the numbers you do not need one. This job scores 7/100 here, with only 6% of the task list in the top band, and “connect sections of drill pipe, using hand tools and powered wrenches and…” is not work that hands over cleanly. None of them beats deepening what you already have.
How that was checked: this job was compared against all 830 US occupations in this release on their official task statements, and the 12 nearest were examined one by one. A move that turns on an industry, an employer or a qualification rather than on the work itself will not show up in a check like that. And this release carries no licence register, so anything you are weighing needs that looked up separately.
3 moves I checked and rejected
These are the obvious-looking jumps. They are here with their reasons rather than quietly dropped, because the ones that fail are worth knowing about. It is one less thing to turn over at night.
Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already monitor progress of drilling operations, and select and change drill bits according to…, and their equivalent is to select and attach drill bits and drill rods, adding more rods as hole…. Across both published task lists that is about 13% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: You would be starting most of it from nothing: about 13% of the durable work in that job is work you do today, and the rest you would be learning while the bills carried on. It is a pay cut, in those words: $60,190 against your $67,890, 11.3% less (OEWS May 2025 (both)). Retraining to earn less is a decision, not advice.
Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already clean and oil pulleys, blocks, and cables, and their equivalent is to string cables through pulleys and blocks. Across both published task lists that is about 13% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: You would be starting most of it from nothing: about 13% of the durable work in that job is work you do today, and the rest you would be learning while the bills carried on. It is a pay cut, in those words: $58,620 against your $67,890, 13.7% less (OEWS May 2025 (both)). Retraining to earn less is a decision, not advice.
Roustabouts, Oil and Gas
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour because one of your tasks is on their list in the same words: “bolt together pump and engine parts, and connect tanks and flow lines”. Across the whole of both lists that adds up to about 7% of the work in that job the software is not taking.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 7% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step. It is a pay cut, in those words: $46,960 against your $67,890, 30.8% less (OEWS May 2025 (both)). Retraining to earn less is a decision, not advice.
What I’d stop worrying about
A friend tells you what not to spend fear on. This is that list.
The headline number you read somewhere
The big “X% of jobs” figures are about the whole economy, not about you. The number that describes your job is on this page: 6% of its task weight, across 20 scored tasks. Every row behind it is printed above with the source. Check ours; ignore theirs.
The headlines about your trade disappearing
They are usually about the technology, not the timetable. Changes to work like connecting sections of drill pipe arrive through rules, insurance and money, slowly and visibly. This page tracks the task evidence and will move when it moves.
Retraining out of a job that is holding up
On this evidence I would not spend money leaving. Spend it on the layer around the job instead: the tools, the paperwork, the planning. That is where the change actually is.
The “obvious” next job everyone suggests
I checked the obvious moves and most of them did not survive. The reasons are printed with the routes above, including the pay and the gate. A move that fails on the numbers is worth knowing about so you can stop turning it over at night.
You are reading the United States figures
The United Kingdom splits this work across more than one official group, of which Mining and quarry workers and related operatives is the closest. The pay and employment figures are not directly comparable, and we do not average them together.
Switch to the United Kingdom page →partial match
The other groups this work is counted across:
In UK official statistics this job is counted as Mining and quarry workers and related operatives, Construction operatives n.e.c. and Production managers and directors in mining and energy. Pay is shown separately for each of those groups (medians cannot be averaged together), while the task list and the scores on this page are for this group only.
Your route through this
Where to go next, and what it costs
Free, and complete
The moves above cost nothing. These are the real services that go with them: public, government-funded, and free at the point of use. Nothing on this page is behind an email address or a payment.
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Find local training
Search what's running near you, from the Labor Department's own database, before anyone sells you a course.
Free to search; individual programs vary, and some are funded
Anywhere in the US:
An American Job Center will sit down with you for free. Find yours by ZIP code.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Licensed occupations finder
Check what your state actually requires before you pay for anything.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
Free
No Space for this job, but one for what is happening to it
Nothing Collab365 runs is built for rotary drill operators / oil / gas, and we are not going to point you at the nearest one and call it a fit.
There is one that is not about a job title at all. The AI Authority is about being the person who directs these tools at work rather than the person they get compared to. That is worth saying here, because 6% of the work on this page is already inside what they can do.
7 days free, no card needed. Explore up to 2 Spaces before you choose a plan: you pick a plan later, not now.
The AI Authority is a general community about working with AI, not a course for rotary drill operators / oil / gas. You do not need it to act on anything here: the moves above cost nothing and stand on their own. The data on this page is the same either way.
Noted, and thank you. We’ll email you if a Space for rotary drill operators / oil / gas launches. Nothing else.
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No deadline on any of this. The page will still be here, and the data is refreshed on a published schedule rather than when someone wants a headline.
Questions people ask about this job
- Will AI replace Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas?
- Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 20 official task statements scored for Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas (United States, SOC 47-5012), 6% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 7 out of 100 (range 5–12, band: minimal). That is a statement about tasks, not about headcount: this measures what AI could do, not whether any employer adopts it, whether the law allows it, or whether doing the routine parts faster creates more demand for the human parts. Figures are from release 2026-q4.1.
- Which tasks in “Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas” can AI already do?
- The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Maintain records of footage drilled, location and nature of strata penetrated, materials and tools used, services rendered, and time required” (69/100, high); “Count sections of drill rod to determine depths of boreholes” (14/100, minimal); “Monitor progress of drilling operations, and select and change drill bits according to the nature of strata, using hand tools” (14/100, minimal). Each score comes from five published 0–4 ratings turned into a number by a published formula, and each carries the model's one-sentence reason on the page.
- Which tasks in “Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas” stay human?
- About 94% of this job's task weight sits in work that scores low for AI exposure. The lowest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Plug observation wells, and restore sites” (0/100, minimal); “Position and prepare truck-mounted derricks at drilling areas specified on field maps” (0/100, minimal); “Line drilled holes with pipes, and install all necessary hardware, to prepare new wells” (0/100, minimal). Low scores usually mean the task needs a body in a room, a legally accountable human, or trust built in real time. Those are the three things the scoring rubric treats as gates rather than obstacles.
- What should someone working in “Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas” do about AI?
- Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 6% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 94% is not. The practical move is to spend more of your week on the tasks that score low, the ones above, and to get fluent at directing AI through the tasks that score high, because those are the parts that change whether or not you are ready for them. This page does not predict your job, and nothing here is career advice tailored to you: the score describes the occupation, not the person.
- How is the AI exposure score for Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas calculated?
- Each official task statement for the occupation is rated on five published 0–4 dimensions (output replicability, physical embodiment, licensed accountability, real-time human trust, and data availability) by claude-opus-5 using scoring prompt task_scoring_v1.0. The model never writes the score; a published formula turns the five ratings into a 0–100 number, so every score can be recomputed by hand. The occupation figure is the importance-weighted mean across 20 scored tasks. The prompt, the rubric, the formula and the full dataset are published at https://futureproof.collab365.com/method and https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1 under CC BY 4.0.
Where these numbers come from
Worth knowing about these figures
- The match between this job and its counterpart in the other country is partial, so the two pages count slightly different groups of people.
- 1 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
- Task statements
- onet-dbProcessing: catalogue-bridge → onet-im-rt-weighting → task-scoring → score-aggregation
- Task weights
- onet-db (im-rt)
- Scores
- Rubric task_scoring_v1.0, model claude-opus-5, computed 2026-08-05.
- Pay and employment
- bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))
Figures on this page come from release 2026-q4.1, published 2026-08-05. Every release keeps its own permanent address, so a figure you cite in March is still there, unchanged, in November.
The plain-English wording on this page is assembled directly from the task statements and the published ratings, not written by hand for this occupation. That is why it is specific, and it is also why we say so.
The routes and free resources further up are today’s, not the release’s (last reviewed 2026-08-05). A route is an offer, not a historical fact, so it moves on its own clock.
Using these figures?
Cite this
Everything on this site is published under CC BY 4.0. Quote it, chart it, sell something built on it. Just say where it came from, and cite the dated release rather than the site, so the figure you quote stays checkable.
Plain text
Collab365 (2026). Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1 (methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0). https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Built with O*NET data (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); ONS data (Open Government Licence v3.0); GAISI task framework (arXiv:2507.22748, MIT); BLS data (public domain).
BibTeX
@misc{collab365futureproof2026q41,
title = {Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1},
author = {{Collab365}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1},
note = {Release 2026-q4.1, methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0, CC BY 4.0}
}Data as of release 2026-q4.1, published . Releases never change after publication; when the figures move, a new dated release is published beside this one and this one stays exactly where it is.