All careers

Roustabouts, Oil and Gas

Assemble or repair oil field equipment using hand and power tools. Perform other tasks as needed.

What you’d do

  • Unscrew or tighten pipes, casing, tubing, and pump rods, using hand and power wrenches and tongs.
  • Dismantle and repair oil field machinery, boilers, and steam engine parts, using hand tools and power tools.
  • Guide cranes to move loads about decks.
  • Walk flow lines to locate leaks, using electronic detectors and by making visual inspections, and repair the leaks.
  • Lay gas and oil pipelines.
  • Bolt together pump and engine parts.
  • Move pipes to and from trucks, using truck winches and motorized lifts, or by hand.
  • Clean trucks used in the fields.

Skills that matter

  • Critical Thinking
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Monitoring
  • Operation and Control
  • Operations Monitoring
  • Quality Control Analysis

How to get there

Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

Also called

  • Floor Hand
  • Roustabout
  • Roustabout Hand
  • Roustabout Pusher
  • Field Service Roustabout
  • Oil and Gas Roustabout

Related careers

See all careers

  • Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas

    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.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas

    Operate equipment to increase oil flow from producing wells or to remove stuck pipe, casing, tools, or other obstructions from drilling…

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Hoist and Winch Operators

    Operate or tend hoists or winches to lift and pull loads using power-operated cable equipment.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Helpers--Extraction Workers

    Help extraction craft workers, such as earth drillers, blasters and explosives workers, derrick operators, and mining machine operators…

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Riggers

    Set up or repair rigging for construction projects, manufacturing plants, logging yards, ships and shipyards, or for the entertainment…

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

    • Bright Outlook
    • Rapid Growth

    Operate one or several types of power construction equipment, such as motor graders, bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks…

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one