Description
Set up or operate a variety of drills to remove underground oil and gas, or remove core samples for testing during oil and gas exploration.
- • Train crews, and introduce procedures to make drill work more safe and effective.
- • Observe pressure gauge and move throttles and levers to control the speed of rotary tables, and to regulate pressure of tools at bottoms of boreholes.
- • Count sections of drill rod to determine depths of boreholes.
- • Push levers and brake pedals to control gasoline, diesel, electric, or steam draw works that lower and raise drill pipes and casings in and out of wells.
- • Connect sections of drill pipe, using hand tools and powered wrenches and tongs.
- • Maintain records of footage drilled, location and nature of strata penetrated, materials and tools used, services rendered, and time required.
- • Maintain and adjust machinery to ensure proper performance.
- • Start and examine operation of slush pumps to ensure circulation and consistency of drilling fluid or mud in well.
- • Locate and recover lost or broken bits, casings, and drill pipes from wells, using special tools.
- • Weigh clay, and mix with water and chemicals to make drilling mud.
- • Direct rig crews in drilling and other activities, such as setting up rigs and completing or servicing wells.
- • Monitor progress of drilling operations, and select and change drill bits according to the nature of strata, using hand tools.
- • Repair or replace defective parts of machinery, such as rotary drill rigs, water trucks, air compressors, and pumps, using hand tools.
- • Clean and oil pulleys, blocks, and cables.
- • Bolt together pump and engine parts, and connect tanks and flow lines.
- • Remove core samples during drilling to determine the nature of the strata being drilled.
- • Cap wells with packers, or turn valves, to regulate outflow of oil from wells.
- • Line drilled holes with pipes, and install all necessary hardware, to prepare new wells.
- • Position and prepare truck-mounted derricks at drilling areas specified on field maps.
- • Plug observation wells, and restore sites.
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Energy & Natural Resources
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
