How likely is AI to replace Roustabouts, Oil and Gas?

Published research puts Roustabouts, Oil and Gas at 14 out of 100 for AI displacement risk, in the lower risk band. The number is a weighted consensus of 5 research sources and describes the typical version of the role, not any individual.

Do researchers agree on the risk for Roustabouts, Oil and Gas?

Only partly. Individual estimates for Roustabouts, Oil and Gas run from 5 to 36 out of 100 across the 5 sources behind this score, so the single number smooths over real disagreement. More recent and higher confidence studies carry more weight in it.

Which construction & trades roles face similar AI exposure?

The closest published construction & trades roles to Roustabouts, Oil and Gas by score are Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas (14/100), Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining (14/100), and Hazardous Materials Removal Workers (14/100). Each has its own page with the research behind its number.

Occupation baseline · Research consensus

Will AI replace Roustabouts, Oil and Gas?

Lower risk

Baseline AI displacement risk for Roustabouts, Oil and Gas, aggregated from 5 research sources.

What this score means

Roustabouts, 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 14 out of 100 it sits close to the Construction & Trades average of 13. Across the 5 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 5 to 36, 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 Roustabouts, Oil and Gas, most central first, showing 12 of 13.

01Unscrew or tighten pipes, casing, tubing, and pump rods, using hand and power wrenches and tongs.
02Dismantle and repair oil field machinery, boilers, and steam engine parts, using hand tools and power tools.
03Guide cranes to move loads about decks.
04Walk flow lines to locate leaks, using electronic detectors and by making visual inspections, and repair the leaks.
05Lay gas and oil pipelines.
06Bolt together pump and engine parts.
07Move pipes to and from trucks, using truck winches and motorized lifts, or by hand.
08Clean trucks used in the fields.
09Dig holes, set forms, and mix and pour concrete into forms to make foundations for wood or steel derricks.
10Supply equipment to rig floors as requested and provide assistance to roughnecks.
11Clean up spilled oil by bailing it into barrels.
12Dig drainage ditches around wells and storage tanks.

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 5 research sources that scored Roustabouts, 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 · 2026Anthropic
02Global Automation Atlas: Task Substitution Exposure by Occupation · 2026Garg, Crosta, Baier (2026), arXiv:2605.17086
03Working with AI: Measuring the Applicability of Generative AI to Occupations · 2025Tomlinson, Jaffe et al., Microsoft Research (2025)
04GPTs are GPTs: Labor Market Impact Potential of LLMs · 2024Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin, Rock (Science, 2024)
05AI Occupational Exposure to Language Modeling · 2023Felten, Raj, Seamans (2023)

Common questions

How likely is AI to replace Roustabouts, Oil and Gas?: Published research puts Roustabouts, Oil and Gas at 14 out of 100 for AI displacement risk, in the lower risk band. The number is a weighted consensus of 5 research sources and describes the typical version of the role, not any individual.
Do researchers agree on the risk for Roustabouts, Oil and Gas?: Only partly. Individual estimates for Roustabouts, Oil and Gas run from 5 to 36 out of 100 across the 5 sources behind this score, so the single number smooths over real disagreement. More recent and higher confidence studies carry more weight in it.
Which construction & trades roles face similar AI exposure?: The closest published construction & trades roles to Roustabouts, Oil and Gas by score are Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas (14/100), Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining (14/100), and Hazardous Materials Removal Workers (14/100). Each has its own page with the research behind its number.

Also covers

Casing Crew Pusher · Cathead Operator · Connection Worker · Derrick Hand · Drill Rig Operator · Dumper Bailer Operator · Field Service Engineer · Field Service Installation Technician (Field Service Installation Tech) and related titles

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