Gas Plant Operators
In short: today's best AI models could do about 16% 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 84% of the time, stays with people.
Distribute or process gas for utility companies and others by controlling compressors to maintain specified pressures on main pipelines.
18,030 people do this job in the US. $87,820 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on6 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people34 h
Gas Plant Operators, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 6 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 34 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Record, review, and compile operations records, test results, and gauge readings such as temperatures, pressures, concentrations, and flows (about 3 h); Determine causes of abnormal pressure variances, and make corrective recommendations, such as installation of pipes to relieve overloading (about 2 h); Read logsheets to determine product demand and disposition, or to detect malfunctions (under an hour).
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.
- 16%
- 3%
- 81%
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, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 13%. Today's estimate: 16%.
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
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 19 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0037% to 0.0055% (released February and March 2025); 0.0035% to 0.0017% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0037% | 640 of 708 | 1 of 19 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0055% | 570 of 703 | 2 of 19 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0035% | 569 of 655 | 1 of 19 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 19 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0017% | 663 of 677 | 1 of 19 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 19 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 19 |
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 76% of this job's working time as physical work. For 70% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 15% in a purpose-built cell, 55% in a structured facility. 1.24 of 3, the 50th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 24%
- No robot shown 6%
- In a purpose-built cell 15%
- In a structured facility 55%
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 . 19 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distribute or process gas for utility companies or industrial plants, using panel boards, control boards, and semi-automatic equipment.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Yokogawa FKDPP autonomous AI agents at Aramco Fadhili Gas Plant (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 19% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Control operation of compressors, scrubbers, evaporators, and refrigeration equipment to liquefy, compress, or regasify natural gas.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, CCC Antisurge Control (Honeywell turbomachinery control) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Monitor equipment functioning, observe temperature, level, and flow gauges, and perform regular unit checks to ensure that all equipment is operating as it should.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Spot (Spot CAM+IR, FLIR MUVE C360, Enhanced Autonomy Payload), integrated by MFE Inspection Solutions (Boston Dynamics / MFE Inspection Solutions) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Record, review, and compile operations records, test results, and gauge readings such as temperatures, pressures, concentrations, and flows.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Control fractioning columns, compressors, purifying towers, heat exchangers, and related equipment to extract nitrogen and oxygen from air.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, Yokogawa/KBC PACE multivariable MPC on Air Liquide air separation units (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Control equipment to regulate flow and pressure of gas to feedlines of boilers, furnaces, and related steam-generating or heating equipment.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Emerson DeltaV SIS/PAS Standard BMS + Standard CCS boiler controls (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Determine causes of abnormal pressure variances, and make corrective recommendations, such as installation of pipes to relieve overloading.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Monitor transportation and storage of flammable and other potentially dangerous products to ensure that safety guidelines are followed.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Spot with FLIR MUVE C360 gas monitor and Enhanced Autonomy Payload (Boston Dynamics / Teledyne FLIR / MFE Inspection Solutions) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Start and shut down plant equipment.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, TBG GASBOL unattended compressor stations (SCADA + station automatic control systems) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Adjust temperature, pressure, vacuum, level, flow rate, or transfer of gas to maintain processes at required levels or to correct problems.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Yokogawa FKDPP autonomous control AI agents (with CENTUM VP) at Aramco Fadhili Gas Plant (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Collaborate with other operators to solve unit problems.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using hand tools, or request that repair and maintenance work be performed.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 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.
- Power Plant Operators45% now, 45% by 2028
- Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers45% now, 47% by 2028
- Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators45% now, 45% by 2028
- Biomass Plant Technicians7% now, 7% by 2028
- Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators21% now, 22% 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 Plant Operators is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 16% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 16% 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 Plant 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: Record, review, and compile operations records, test results, and gauge readings such as temperatures, pressures, concentrations, and flows (100% of the task's time now); Determine causes of abnormal pressure variances, and make corrective recommendations, such as installation of pipes to relieve overloading (99% of the task's time now); and Read logsheets to determine product demand and disposition, or to detect malfunctions (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Gas Plant Operators stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Distribute or process gas for utility companies or industrial plants, using panel boards, control boards, and semi-automatic equipment; Control operation of compressors, scrubbers, evaporators, and refrigeration equipment to liquefy, compress, or regasify natural gas; and Monitor equipment functioning, observe temperature, level, and flow gauges, and perform regular unit checks to ensure that all equipment is operating as it should. Together such tasks are about 84% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Gas Plant 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 7%. 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 Plant Operators?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 76% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 70% of the working time, 55% in a structured facility. Its index is 1.24 of 3. One example: Yokogawa FKDPP autonomous AI agents at Aramco Fadhili Gas Plant for "distribute or process gas for utility companies or industrial plants, using panel boards, control boards, and semi-automatic equipment". 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 19 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.
This job in your state or metro area
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.
Your own version of this job
The page above is the occupation. Your job is your title and what you actually do: give both, and they are read against these tasks in your browser, nothing sent anywhere. The headline is free: how much of your working time is within reach now and by the end of 2028, and how many of the tasks your description names.
This occupation has not been reviewed task by task yet, so the full personal report is not offered for it; 402 of 923 occupations are reviewed so far, largest first.