Occupation baseline · Research consensus

Will AI replace Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas?

Lower risk

Baseline AI displacement risk for Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas, aggregated from 3 research sources.

What this score means

Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas is among the least exposed roles in Construction & Trades. Most of what the job involves still sits outside what current AI can do, even as the tools around it keep changing. At 11 out of 100 it scores 3 points below the Construction & Trades average of 14. Across the 3 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 5 to 20, so the score is a weighted consensus rather than any single figure.

The number is a consensus estimate for the typical version of the role, built from published academic and industry research scored occupation by occupation. It is not a prediction about any individual. How scoring works

What this job actually involves

Exposure follows the work itself rather than the job title, so it is worth seeing what the role is made of. These are the tasks O*NET records for Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas, most central first, showing 12 of 15.

01Inspect derricks, or order their inspection, prior to being raised or lowered.
02Inspect derricks for flaws, and clean and oil derricks to maintain proper working conditions.
03Control the viscosity and weight of the drilling fluid.
04Repair pumps, mud tanks, and related equipment.
05Set and bolt crown blocks to posts at tops of derricks.
06Listen to mud pumps and check regularly for vibration and other problems to ensure that rig pumps and drilling mud systems are working properly.
07Start pumps that circulate mud through drill pipes and boreholes to cool drill bits and flush out drill cuttings.
08Position and align derrick elements, using harnesses and platform climbing devices.
09Supervise crew members, and provide assistance in training them.
10Guide lengths of pipe into and out of elevators.
11Prepare mud reports, and instruct crews about the handling of any chemical additives.
12Clamp holding fixtures on ends of hoisting cables.

Task statements from O*NET by the National Center for O*NET Development, used under CC BY 4.0. The tasks are descriptive; the exposure score above is ours.

The research behind this score

This baseline aggregates 3 research sources that scored Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas for AI and automation exposure. More recent, higher confidence studies carry more weight in the final number.

01Anthropic Economic Index 2026 - AI Task Exposure · 2026
02GPTs are GPTs: Labor Market Impact Potential of LLMs · 2024
03AI Occupational Exposure to Language Modeling · 2023

Also covers

Derrick Hand · Derrick Man · Derrick Operator · Derrick Worker · Driller · Drilling Motorman · Floor Hand · Fracturing Derrick Operator and related titles

Estimated displacement window

The dated estimate for this role is included in the full personalised report.

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Informational guidance based on published research, not professional career or financial advice. Scores update as new research is ingested.