Oil and Gas Derrick Operators
Skills & Knowledge
Most Important Skills for Oil and Gas Derrick Operators
- Monitoring Equipment—Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Controlling Quality—Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Operating Equipment—Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Repairing—Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Monitoring Performance—Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Coordinating with Others—Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Maintaining Equipment—Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Managing People—Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Troubleshooting—Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Thinking Critically—Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Most Important Knowledge Areas for Oil and Gas Derrick Operators
- Mechanical—Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Mathematics—Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- 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.
- English Language—Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- 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.
- Transportation—Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- 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.
- 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 m
- 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.
- 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.
Interests
Different careers may be a good fit for your personality or interests. This career is:
- Realistic—Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
- Conventional—Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Learn more about your interests. Take the MnCareers Interest Assessment.
Describe Your Skills
People who have worked in this career typically perform the following tasks.
These statements can help a prospective employer understand what you can do, on a resume or during an interview.
- Controlling machines and processes.
- Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to find or fix problems.
- Repairing and maintaining mechanical equipment.
- Handling and moving objects.
- Performing general physical abilities.
- Communicating with supervisors, co-workers, or people that work under you.
- Monitoring information from a variety of sources to find problems.
- Identifying information by categorizing, comparing, or detecting changes in circumstances or events.
Careers that Use Similar Skills
The following careers use skills, knowledge, and abilities that are similar to those used for Oil and Gas Derrick Operators.
View more careers in the Architecture and Construction cluster
View more careers in the Natural Resources Systems pathway

This page includes information from the O*NET 24.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Source: You can learn about our data sources in the About Us section.