Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas
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.
Most important skills
- Critical Thinking
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Instructing
- Speaking
- Coordination
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- Mathematics
- Administration and Management
- Education and Training
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Public Safety and Security
- Chemistry
- Transportation
What the work involves
- Train crews, and introduce procedures to make drill work more safe and effective.
- 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.
- Count sections of drill rod to determine depths of boreholes.
- 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.
- Connect sections of drill pipe, using hand tools and powered wrenches and tongs.
- Maintain records of footage drilled, location and nature of strata penetrated, materials and tools used, services rendered, and time required.
- Maintain and adjust machinery to ensure proper performance.
- Start and examine operation of slush pumps to ensure circulation and consistency of drilling fluid or mud in well.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma (31.1% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (30.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 4 years, up to and including 10 years (22.1%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Lower on contact with others than 52% of occupations compared | 66% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 56% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 96% of occupations compared | 86% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 58% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 69% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 78% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 70% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 96% of occupations compared | 70% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 13.2%
- Contact with others about half the time: 4.11%
- Contact with others most of the time: 16.26%
- Constant contact with others: 66.43%
n = 27, Incumbent 12/2005
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 10.08%
- Fairly important: 13.28%
- Important: 40.89%
- Very important: 11.73%
- Extremely important: 24.01%
n = 27, Incumbent 12/2005
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 13.6%
- Extremely important: 86.4%
n = 27, Incumbent 12/2005
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 2.82%
- Very little freedom: 0.81%
- Limited freedom: 11.06%
- Some freedom: 42.78%
- A lot of freedom: 42.53%
n = 26, Incumbent 12/2005
Time pressure
- Never: 4.63%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.71%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 3.2%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 40.52%
n = 26, Incumbent 12/2005
Conflict situations
- Never: 0.34%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 30.02%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 14.42%
- Every day: 23.48%
n = 27, Incumbent 12/2005
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 12.95%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 18.24%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 24.61%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 28.66%
- Every day: 15.55%
n = 27, Incumbent 12/2005
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 4.69%
- Fairly serious: 5%
- Serious: 0%
- Very serious: 19.84%
- Extremely serious: 70.47%
n = 26, Incumbent 12/2005
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O*NET-SOC 47-5012.00 · SOC 47-5012 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8