Occupation

Oil and gas production operator

Oil and gas production operators run the wells, separators, compressors, and tanks that bring hydrocarbons to surface and prepare them for transport. Days are spent driving a route of sites or working a shift on a facility, taking readings, adjusting equipment, and dealing with whatever has gone wrong overnight. Sites are frequently remote, and rotational schedules or camp work are common.

Also known as: Production operator · Lease operator · Field operator · Wellsite operator

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Occupation content

Part of Utilities, energy, mining and resources

A visual day in the work

What the work involves

  1. Take readings on wellheads, separators, compressors, and tanks and adjust set points as needed.

  2. Start, stop, and troubleshoot pumps, compressors, and dehydration or treating equipment.

  3. Gauge tanks, coordinate product loading, and record production and injection volumes.

  4. Test for leaks and gas releases and follow response procedures when detection alarms sound.

  5. Isolate and prepare equipment under permit so maintenance or well work can proceed.

  6. Complete daily operating logs, environmental records, and incident reports.

Entry-route stepper

How people commonly enter

  1. A college certificate or diploma in petroleum, process, or power engineering technology.

  2. Starting as a field or facility helper and progressing to operator through on-the-job training.

  3. Transferring from a mechanical, instrumentation, or plant operations background in another industry.

  4. An operator trainee programme run by a producer, combining safety tickets with supervised field work.

Typical training: Certificate or college diploma

Licensing: Certification common, not usually required

Work-context map

Typical work context

  • Outdoors
  • Shift work
  • Physically active
  • Involves travel
  • High responsibility

Outdoors · Shift work · Physically active · Involves travel · High responsibility

Related interests

  • Realistic (hands-on)
  • Conventional (organizing)

Realistic (hands-on) · Conventional (organizing)

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Labour-market context (not part of exploration match)

This is broad family-level context for Utilities, energy, mining and resources in Canada, not a figure for Oil and gas production operator. It does not affect matching scores and is not an eligibility determination.

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Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period

Utilities, energy, mining and resources: licensing

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