Roustabouts, Oil and Gas
In short: today's best AI models could do about 0% 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 100% of the time, stays with people.
Assemble or repair oil field equipment using hand and power tools. Perform other tasks as needed.
44,970 people do this job in the US. $46,960 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on0 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people40 h
Roustabouts, Oil and Gas, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 0 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 40 hours stay with people.
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.
- 0%
- 0%
- 100%
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, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 0%. Today's estimate: 0%.
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 100% of this job's working time as physical work. For 69% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 63% in a purpose-built cell, 6% in a structured facility. 0.74 of 3, the 244th highest of the 923 jobs.
- No robot shown 31%
- In a purpose-built cell 63%
- In a structured facility 6%
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 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lay gas and oil pipelines.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Novarc Spool Welding Robot (SWR) with NovEye Autonomy Gen 2 (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 43% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Dismantle and repair oil field machinery, boilers, and steam engine parts, using hand tools and power tools.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Move pipes to and from trucks, using truck winches and motorized lifts, or by hand.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Actiw LoadPlate (Joloda Hydraroll Group) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Unscrew or tighten pipes, casing, tubing, and pump rods, using hand and power wrenches and tongs.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ComCAM bucking unit (Weatherford Bucking Systems) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Dig holes, set forms, and mix and pour concrete into forms to make foundations for wood or steel derricks.Done more than yearly by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Progress Maschinen & Automation shuttering & deshuttering robot (ebos-controlled) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Walk flow lines to locate leaks, using electronic detectors and by making visual inspections, and repair the leaks.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean trucks used in the fields.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, InterClean robotic industrial wash system (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Dig drainage ditches around wells and storage tanks.Done more than yearly by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, Built Robotics Exosystem (autonomous trenching excavator) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Bolt together pump and engine parts.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, SymbioDCS robotic bolt-running cell (UR10 + Acradyne nutrunner + ATI force/torque sensor) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 50 min17 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Cut down and remove trees and brush to clear drill sites, to reduce fire hazards, and to make way for roads to sites.Done more than yearly by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, Swap Robotics solar vegetation cutting robot (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Supply equipment to rig floors as requested and provide assistance to roughnecks.Done more than weekly by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, NOV ATOM RTX end-effector rack (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Guide cranes to move loads about decks.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Optilift Autonomous Crane Control System + Aker BP AutoHook (Palfinger offshore crane) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 1% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | 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.
- Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas5% now, 5% by 2028
- Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas14% now, 14% by 2028
- Hoist and Winch Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Helpers--Extraction Workers0% now, 0% by 2028
- Riggers7% now, 7% by 2028
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators3% now, 3% 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 Roustabouts, Oil and Gas is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 0% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 0% 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 Roustabouts, Oil and Gas come within reach first?
- No task has a meaningful share of its time within reach now or by the end of 2028, on the long-run pace at four in five: the work is mostly people work and body work, which the site does not count.
- Which tasks of Roustabouts, Oil and Gas stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Lay gas and oil pipelines; Dismantle and repair oil field machinery, boilers, and steam engine parts, using hand tools and power tools; and Move pipes to and from trucks, using truck winches and motorized lifts, or by hand. Together such tasks are about 100% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Roustabouts, Oil and Gas?
- 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 Roustabouts, Oil and Gas?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 100% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 69% of the working time, 6% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.74 of 3. One example: Built Robotics Exosystem (autonomous trenching excavator) for "dig drainage ditches around wells and storage tanks". 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.
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.