Will AI replace Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers?
Production · O*NET 51-8093.00
Task exposure index for this occupation
Averaged across the week, this work sits in the middle of the exposure scale: a real part of it is already automatable and a real part is not. O*NET breaks Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers into 24 distinct work activities. Weighted by how much of the week each one takes, 17% of the job sits at or above the threshold where current systems can do the task end to end. The single largest contributor is "Monitor equipment operation to ensure proper functioning", which scores 52 and takes roughly 11% of the week. That is the average for the job title. It is not a measurement of any particular person’s week, and the difference between the two is usually larger than the difference between job titles.
Model v1.2 · activity indices last updated 18 August 2026
What this occupation does
Operate or control petroleum refining or processing units. May specialize in controlling manifold and pumping systems, gauging or testing oil in storage tanks, or regulating the flow of oil into pipelines.
The most exposed parts of the job
Scored 0–100 on how completely a current system could perform the activity.
- Record operational or production data.95
About 5% of a typical week
- Study blueprints or other instructions to determine equipment setup requirements.66
About 3% of a typical week
- Calculate weights, volumes or other characteristics of materials.63
About 1% of a typical week
- Plan production or operational procedures or sequences.58
About 5% of a typical week
- Calculate costs of goods or services.56
About 2% of a typical week
The least exposed parts
The same scale. These are the activities current systems handle worst.
- Adjust equipment controls to regulate flow of water, cleaning solutions, or other liquids.5
About 6% of a typical week
- Clean work areas.5
About 5% of a typical week
- Clean production equipment.5
About 3% of a typical week
- Repair production equipment or tools.16
About 2% of a typical week
- Collect samples of materials or products for testing.16
About 5% of a typical week
How far off the rest is
Of those 24 activities, 1 can be performed by systems available today and 13 are outside what current approaches do at all. The remaining 10 sit in between — demonstrated in research or in narrow products, but not something you can hand over whole. We do not put dates on that middle group, because nobody can.
Compared with similar occupations
The nearest scoring roles in Production.
- Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers (this page)36
- Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators36
- Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders36
- Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators35
Why your own number is different
Two people with the title "Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers" can spend their weeks on almost entirely different parts of this list, and the parts they choose move the number far more than the title does. Who signs off when the work is wrong, whether the job needs you physically present, and how fast you have picked up the tools all change it again — and none of that is in an occupation average.
The assessment asks you to divide your own week across these activities and answer fourteen questions about the parts of the job an occupation average cannot see. It takes six to nine minutes.
Score my own roleFree to take. The full report is a paid subscription — the price and its terms are on the pricing section, before you start.
Questions
Will AI replace Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers?
We do not answer that, because nobody can. What is measurable is how much of the work is already doable by machine: for Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers, about 17% of a typical week, across 24 activities. The other 83% is not, and what happens to the job depends on things this index does not contain — cost, regulation, who carries the liability, and what the people doing it decide to do next.
What part of this job is most exposed?
"Record operational or production data" — it scores 95 out of 100 on task automatability and takes roughly 5% of the week.
What part is least exposed?
"Adjust equipment controls to regulate flow of water, cleaning solutions, or other liquids", at 5 out of 100. Work like that is where the hours you protect tend to be worth the most.
Where do these numbers come from?
The activity list and the time weights come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupational database. The exposure score for each activity is ours, from a published model — the weights, the priors and the limitations are all on the methodology page. No language model is involved in the arithmetic.
Does this apply to my job?
Only roughly. This is the average for the title, and the number that matters is the one for the week you actually work. The assessment asks you to divide your own time across these activities and answer fourteen questions about accountability, the parts of the job that need you specifically, and how fast you have adapted. That produces a different number, and usually a more useful one.
The full model — the weights, the priors and what it cannot see — is on the methodology page.