Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators
In short: today's best AI models could do about 45% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 55% of the time, stays with people.
Operate steam-, gas-, electric motor-, or internal combustion-engine driven compressors. Transmit, compress, or recover gases, such as butane, nitrogen, hydrogen, and natural gas.
3,510 people do this job in the US. $77,320 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on18 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people22 h
Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 18 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 22 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Respond to problems by adjusting control room equipment or instructing other personnel to adjust equipment at problem locations or in other control areas (about 5 h); Monitor meters and pressure gauges to determine consumption rate variations, temperatures, and pressures (about 5 h); Submit daily reports on facility operations (about 3 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 45%
- 0%
- 55%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 4%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 44%. Today's estimate: 45%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
None of this job's 13 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 48% of this job's working time as physical work. For 48% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 39% in a purpose-built cell, 10% in a structured facility. 0.58 of 3, the 288th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 52%
- In a purpose-built cell 39%
- In a structured facility 10%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 13 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operate power-driven pumps that transfer liquids, semi-liquids, gases, or powdered materials.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, RX371 Compressor Control Panel (Tulsa Gas Technologies) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Respond to problems by adjusting control room equipment or instructing other personnel to adjust equipment at problem locations or in other control areas.Done daily by most who do it. | 13% | 25 min13 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Monitor meters and pressure gauges to determine consumption rate variations, temperatures, and pressures.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 12% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Adjust valves and equipment to obtain specified performance.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Siemens Energy compressor control systems (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Maintain each station by performing general housekeeping duties such as painting, washing, and cleaning.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Avidbots Neo (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Submit daily reports on facility operations.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 33 min17 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Record instrument readings and operational changes in operating logs.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Take samples of gases and conduct chemical tests to determine gas quality and sulfur or moisture content, or send samples to laboratories for analysis.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Rosemount 370XA Gas Chromatograph (Emerson) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Move controls and turn valves to start compressor engines, pumps, and auxiliary equipment.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, GasBol pipeline compressor stations SCADA / station automatic control systems (Control and Supervision Center, Rio de Janeiro) (TransPetro/GasBol operators) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Read gas meters, and maintain records of the amounts of gas received and dispensed from holders.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Turn knobs or switches to regulate pressures.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Honeywell CCC antisurge / compressor control application with recycle and blow-off valve actuators (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 8 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean, lubricate, and adjust equipment, and replace filters and gaskets, using hand tools.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Dürr Somac filling technology (automatic fluid filling stations) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Gas Plant Operators16% now, 16% by 2028
- Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers45% now, 47% by 2028
- Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators21% now, 22% by 2028
- Power Plant Operators45% now, 45% by 2028
- Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers29% now, 29% by 2028
- Chemical Plant and System Operators22% now, 22% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 45% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 45% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Respond to problems by adjusting control room equipment or instructing other personnel to adjust equipment at problem locations or in other control areas (100% of the task's time now); Monitor meters and pressure gauges to determine consumption rate variations, temperatures, and pressures (100% of the task's time now); and Submit daily reports on facility operations (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Operate power-driven pumps that transfer liquids, semi-liquids, gases, or powdered materials; Adjust valves and equipment to obtain specified performance; and Maintain each station by performing general housekeeping duties such as painting, washing, and cleaning. Together such tasks are about 55% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 48% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 48% of the working time, 10% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.58 of 3. One example: RX371 Compressor Control Panel (Tulsa Gas Technologies) for "operate power-driven pumps that transfer liquids, semi-liquids, gases, or powdered materials". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 13 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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