Monitor and control the equipment and gauges that refine crude oil into gasoline, diesel, and other fuels.
Oil refineries and processing plants
Rotating shifts, including nights and weekends
May 2024–25 BLS wage data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.
Openings a year counts new jobs plus the ones that open when people retire or move on — a truer picture of your odds than growth alone.
“Median” means half earn more and half earn less. Your city, employer, and years on the job move it a lot — that is what the 10th-to-90th range shows.
High school / no degree
Training path: Paid on-the-job training after high school.
No license is required, though operators often earn a process-operator certification for the plant they run.
You can earn while you train. This field has a genuinely paid pathway in — an apprenticeship, a paid academy, or employer-funded training — so you draw a paycheck instead of taking on debt to learn it.
Runs the equipment that turns crude oil into fuel, a control-room and plant role distinct from the field crews who drill and pump oil.
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Standard Occupational Classification 51-8093. Pay, employment, and outlook from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS wage survey and 2024–34 employment projections). See something off? Tell us.