Roustabouts, Oil and Gas

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Walk flow lines to locate leaks, using electronic detectors and by making visual inspections, and repair the leaks.
• Dig holes, set forms, and mix and pour concrete into forms to make foundations for wood or steel derricks.
• Cut down and remove trees and brush to clear drill sites, to reduce fire hazards, and to make way for roads to sites.
• Guide cranes to move loads about decks.
• Bolt together pump and engine parts.
• Move pipes to and from trucks, using truck winches and motorized lifts, or by hand.
• Clean up spilled oil by bailing it into barrels.
• Supply equipment to rig floors as requested and provide assistance to roughnecks.
• Clean trucks used in the fields.
• Supply equipment to rig floors as requested and provide assistance to roughnecks.
• Walk flow lines to locate leaks, using electronic detectors and by making visual inspections, and repair the leaks.
• Unscrew or tighten pipes, casing, tubing, and pump rods, using hand and power wrenches and tongs.
• Dig drainage ditches around wells and storage tanks.
• Dig holes, set forms, and mix and pour concrete into forms to make foundations for wood or steel derricks.
• Lay gas and oil pipelines.
• Dismantle and repair oil field machinery, boilers, and steam engine parts, using hand tools and power tools.
• Lay gas and oil pipelines.
• Dig holes, set forms, and mix and pour concrete into forms to make foundations for wood or steel derricks.

Skills

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

Abilities

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

Knowledge

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• 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.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• 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.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• 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.
• 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.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• 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.
• 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.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• 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.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• 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.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• 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.

Education

Education

No formal educational credential

Work Experience

No 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

47510/yr

U.S. Hourly Wage

22.84/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

48,600

Yearly Projected Openings

4900

Personality

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

• Dependability
• Integrity
• Leadership
• Self Control
• Attention to Detail
• Stress Tolerance

Tools

• Adjustable wrenches
• Centrifugal pumps
• Cleaning scrapers
• Demolition hammers
• Downhole fishing poles
• Ear plugs
• Fall protection lanyard
• Filtering machinery
• Fire extinguishers
• Forklifts
• Grease guns
• Hammers
• Hand sprayers
• Hard hats
• Hoists
• Impact wrenches
• Insulated or flotation suits
• Laboratory balances
• Laboratory funnels
• Lifelines or lifeline equipment
• Lifting hooks
• Lifts
• Mud agitators
• Multi gas monitors
• Oilfield production spoolers
• Oxygen gas analyzers
• Personal computers
• Pneumatic sanding machines
• Portable data input terminals
• Post hole digger
• Power grinders
• Pressure or steam cleaners
• Protective gloves
• Respiration air supplying self contained breathing apparatus or accessories
• Rheometers
• Safety glasses
• Safety harnesses or belts
• Safety hooks
• Scaffolding
• Shackle
• Slings
• Tongs
• Viscosimeters
• Winches
• pH meters

Technology

• Data base management system software
• Data base user interface and query software
• Electronic mail software
• Enterprise resource planning ERP software
• Internet protocol IP multimedia subsystem software
• Inventory management software
• Office suite software
• Operating system software
• Presentation software
• Procurement software
• Project management software
• Spreadsheet software
• Switch or router software
• Word processing software