Will “Oil and Shale and Tar Processing Technician” be Automated?

Core Skills & Abilities

• Perforate well casings or sidewalls of boreholes with explosive charges.

• Insert detection instruments into wells with obstructions.

• Apply green technologies or techniques, such as the use of coiled tubing, slim-hole drilling, horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, or gas lift systems.

• Interpret instrument readings to ascertain the depth of obstruction.

• Operate controls that raise derricks or level rigs.

• Thread cables through derrick pulleys, using hand tools.

• Monitor sound wave-generating or detecting mechanisms to determine well fluid levels.

• Install pressure-control devices onto wellheads.

• Maintain and perform safety inspections on equipment and tools.

• Confer with others to gather information regarding pipe or tool sizes or borehole conditions in wells.

• Drive truck-mounted units to well sites.

• Listen to engines, rotary chains, or other equipment to detect faulty operations or unusual well conditions.

• Select fishing methods or tools for removing obstacles such as liners, broken casing, screens, or drill pipe.

• Examine unserviceable wells to determine actions to be taken to improve well conditions.

• Direct drilling crews performing activities such as assembling and connecting pipe, applying weights to drill pipes, or drilling around lodged obstacles.

• Close and seal wells no longer in use.

• Prepare reports of services rendered, tools used, or time required, for billing purposes.

• Operate specialized equipment to remove obstructions by backing off or severing pipes by chemical or explosive action.

• Operate pumps that circulate water, oil, or other fluids through wells to remove sand or other materials obstructing the free flow of oil.