Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Operate pumps that circulate water, oil, or other fluids through wells to remove sand or other materials obstructing the free flow of oil.
• Prepare reports of services rendered, tools used, or time required, for billing purposes.
• Confer with others to gather information regarding pipe or tool sizes or borehole conditions in wells.
• Monitor sound wave-generating or detecting mechanisms to determine well fluid levels.
• Examine unserviceable wells to determine actions to be taken to improve well conditions.
• Drive truck-mounted units to well sites.
• Perforate well casings or sidewalls of boreholes with explosive charges.
• 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.
• 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.
• Operate controls that raise derricks or level rigs.
• Thread cables through derrick pulleys, using hand tools.
• Close and seal wells no longer in use.
• Maintain and perform safety inspections on equipment and tools.
• Interpret instrument readings to ascertain the depth of obstruction.
• Maintain and perform safety inspections on equipment and tools.
• Install pressure-control devices onto wellheads.
• Direct drilling crews performing activities such as assembling and connecting pipe, applying weights to drill pipes, or drilling around lodged obstacles.
• Operate specialized equipment to remove obstructions by backing off or severing pipes by chemical or explosive action.

Skills

• Science
  • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
• Social Perceptiveness
  • Understanding people's reactions.
• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
• Repairing
  • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
• Management of Material Resources
  • Managing equipment and materials.
• Systems Analysis
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
• Programming
  • Writing computer programs.
• Systems Evaluation
  • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
• Equipment Selection
  • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
• Active Learning
  • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
• Active Listening
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
• Monitoring
  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
• Instructing
  • Teaching people how to do something.
• Mathematics
  • Using math to solve problems.
• Management of Financial Resources
  • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
• Operations Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
• Judgment and Decision Making
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
• Reading Comprehension
  • Reading work-related information.
• Negotiation
  • Bringing people together to solve differences.
• Speaking
  • Talking to others.
• Complex Problem Solving
  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
• Operation and Control
  • Using equipment or systems.
• Quality Control Analysis
  • Testing how well a product or service works.
• Management of Personnel Resources
  • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
• Coordination
  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
• Service Orientation
  • Looking for ways to help people.
• Operations Analysis
  • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
• Writing
  • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
• Persuasion
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
• Troubleshooting
  • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
• Technology Design
  • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
• Learning Strategies
  • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
• Time Management
  • Managing your time and the time of other people.
• Installation
  • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

Abilities

• Oral Expression
  • Communicating by speaking.
• Category Flexibility
  • Grouping things in different ways.
• Flexibility of Closure
  • Seeing hidden patterns.
• Perceptual Speed
  • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
• Spatial Orientation
  • Knowing where things are around you.
• Near Vision
  • Seeing details up close.
• Auditory Attention
  • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
• Dynamic Strength
  • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
• Gross Body Coordination
  • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
• Originality
  • Creating new and original ideas.
• Control Precision
  • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
• Multilimb Coordination
  • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
• Response Orientation
  • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
• Rate Control
  • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
• Reaction Time
  • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
• Trunk Strength
  • Using your lower back and stomach.
• Explosive Strength
  • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
• Hearing Sensitivity
  • Telling the difference between sounds.
• Visual Color Discrimination
  • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
• Extent Flexibility
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Far Vision
  • Seeing details that are far away.
• Sound Localization
  • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
• Stamina
  • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
• Oral Comprehension
  • Listening and understanding what people say.
• Problem Sensitivity
  • Noticing when problems happen.
• Inductive Reasoning
  • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
• Deductive Reasoning
  • Using rules to solve problems.
• Number Facility
  • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
• Memorization
  • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
• Speed of Closure
  • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
• Static Strength
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
• Time Sharing
  • Doing two or more things at the same time.
• Manual Dexterity
  • Holding or moving items with your hands.
• Dynamic Flexibility
  • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Depth Perception
  • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
• Speech Recognition
  • Recognizing spoken words.
• Night Vision
  • Seeing at night or under low light.
• Speech Clarity
  • Speaking clearly.
• Written Comprehension
  • Reading and understanding what is written.
• Written Expression
  • Communicating by writing.
• Fluency of Ideas
  • Coming up with lots of ideas.
• Information Ordering
  • Ordering or arranging things.
• Mathematical Reasoning
  • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
• Glare Sensitivity
  • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
• Peripheral Vision
  • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
• Speed of Limb Movement
  • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
• Visualization
  • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
• Selective Attention
  • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
• Finger Dexterity
  • Putting together small parts with your fingers.

Knowledge

• Administration and Management
  • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Foreign Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Physics
  • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
• Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Geography
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Engineering and Technology
  • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Sales and Marketing
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Philosophy and Theology
  • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
• Chemistry
  • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Personnel and Human Resources
  • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• Communications and Media
  • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Education and Training
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Administrative
  • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Medicine and Dentistry
  • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Building and Construction
  • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Psychology
  • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Therapy and Counseling
  • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

Education

Education

No formal educational credential

Work Experience

Less than 5 years work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

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Education and Training Opportunities

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Pay

U.S. Annual Salary

57980/yr

U.S. Hourly Wage

27.88/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

45,400

Yearly Projected Openings

4100

Personality

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

• Stress Tolerance
• Cautiousness
• Attention to Detail
• Dependability
• Perseverance
• Adaptability

Tools

• Acoustic ear muffs or defenders
• Adjustable wrenches
• Cement pumping units
• Claw hammer
• Completion hydraulic pumps
• Depth indicators
• Derricks
• Desktop computers
• Diesel engines
• Downhole fishing poles
• Electric downhole pumps
• Goggles
• Hex keys
• Hoists
• Levels
• Locking pliers
• Mallets
• Microcontrollers
• Mud pumps
• Notebook computers
• Personal computers
• Pipe handling equipment
• Pipe wrenches
• Plaster or mortar mixers
• Portable data input terminals
• Power drills
• Pressure controllers
• Pressure indicators
• Protective gloves
• Ratchets
• Rod pumps
• Screwdrivers
• Slickline chemical cutters
• Slickline jet cutters
• Slickline severing tools
• Sonars
• Strain gauges
• Tape measures
• Through tubing perforation guns
• Utility knives
• Well testing downhole tools
• Wellhead beam pumps
• Wire cutters

Technology

• Analytical or scientific software
• Document management software
• Enterprise resource planning ERP software
• Facilities management software
• Industrial control software
• Inventory management software
• Office suite software
• Presentation software
• Spreadsheet software
• Time accounting software
• Word processing software