Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas

Moderate Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (3)

Lower estimated automation risk

First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers
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Why it fits

Experienced drillers can supervise crews, rig-up, job planning, safety, and field logistics.

Occupational Health and Safety Technicians
21% automation risk | Low Risk
Higher growth More jobs
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Why it fits

Uses drilling hazard awareness, safety procedures, incident reporting, and field inspections.

Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians
38% automation risk | Low Risk
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Why it fits

Fits operators with core-sampling and formation-data exposure plus geoscience support training.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
4.2/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

48% (Moderate Risk)

Moderate Risk (41-60%): This occupation may be meaningfully affected by automation. Some parts of the role may be suitable for AI, software, or robotics, while others still rely on human skill, judgement, trust, or real-world context. People in this range may benefit from building skills that complement automation and reduce replacement risk.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Decision-making and problem solving

Very important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Assisting and caring for others

Quite important
Why this matters
Provide hands-on help, emotional support, or personal care to people—work that depends on empathy, trust, and responding to individual needs in the moment.
Jobs that also use this strength

Thinking creatively

Quite important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
Jobs that also use this strength

Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
Jobs that also use this strength

Coaching and developing others

Quite important
Why this matters
Helps people learn and improve through coaching, mentoring, and feedback. This relies on trust, motivation, and adapting guidance to each person—work that’s hard to replace end-to-end with automation.
Jobs that also use this strength
Show 1 more strength

Consulting and advising others

Quite important
Why this matters
Provide guidance and expert advice to managers or teams on technical, system, or process decisions—explaining options, tradeoffs, and recommended actions.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 15 votes

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Pay & outlook

Wages

Moderately paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas was $65,010 ($31 per hour).

The median annual wage for Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas was 31.3% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas' job openings is expected to rise 0.2% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 13,090 people employed as 'Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 11 thousand people are employed as 'Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas'.

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Job description

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.

O*NET-SOC code: 47-5012.00