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Engineering & Architecture · Updated Aug 2026

Petroleum Engineers

Devise methods to improve oil and gas extraction and production and determine the need for new or modified tool designs. Oversee drilling and offer technical advice.

JVS 2.0.0-phase4b
AI Exposure
63/100
High

How much of this occupation’s work can be materially affected by current AI systems.

Replacement Risk
56/100
Moderate

How likely exposure is to translate into reduced human demand.

Includes provisional estimates for AI adoption pressure and labour-market resilience. How this is measured

Evidence quality
Confidence82/100
Task coverage85%

Confidence reflects task coverage, mapping and capability-evidence quality, and how much of the score rests on provisional inputs.

Task-level evidence

What is driving the score?

Occupation scores are built from the task mix—not a single prediction about a job title.

JVS 2.0.0-phase4b
TaskImportanceAI impactExposure
Specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery.High
73
Assist engineering and other personnel to solve operating problems.Medium
73
Assign work to staff to obtain maximum utilization of personnel.Medium
59
Analyze data to recommend placement of wells and supplementary processes to enhance production.Medium
72
Develop plans for oil and gas field drilling, and for product recovery and treatment.Medium
73
Simulate reservoir performance for different recovery techniques, using computer models.Medium
72
Coordinate activities of workers engaged in research, planning, and development.Medium
72
Confer with scientific, engineering, and technical personnel to resolve design, research, and testing problems.Medium
73
Assess costs and estimate the production capabilities and economic value of oil and gas wells, to evaluate the economic viability of potential drilling sites.Medium
72
Design and implement environmental controls on oil and gas operations.Medium
74
Evaluate findings to develop, design, or test equipment or processes.Medium
73
Write technical reports for engineering and management personnel.Medium
73
Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production.High
39
Supervise the removal of drilling equipment, the removal of any waste, and the safe return of land to structural stability when wells or pockets are exhausted.Medium
71
Test machinery and equipment to ensure that it is safe and conforms to performance specifications.High
69
Direct and monitor the completion and evaluation of wells, well testing, or well surveys.Medium
34
Inspect oil and gas wells to determine that installations are completed.Medium
37
Take samples to assess the amount and quality of oil, the depth at which resources lie, and the equipment needed to properly extract them.Medium
55
Coordinate the installation, maintenance, and operation of mining and oil field equipment.Medium
38
Most exposed

Where AI can do more

Routine, digitized, and highly repeatable tasks face the greatest pressure.

  1. Design and implement environmental controls on oil and gas operations.74
  2. Specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery.73
  3. Assist engineering and other personnel to solve operating problems.73
  4. Develop plans for oil and gas field drilling, and for product recovery and treatment.73
Hardest to automate

Where people still matter

These tasks score lowest on automation feasibility—physical presence, judgement, accountability and real-world variability all resist end-to-end automation.

  1. Direct and monitor the completion and evaluation of wells, well testing, or well surveys.01
  2. Inspect oil and gas wells to determine that installations are completed.02
  3. Coordinate the installation, maintenance, and operation of mining and oil field equipment.03
  4. Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production.04
  5. Specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery.05
Where else this work leads

Related occupations

Occupations O*NET links to this one. Relatedness reflects shared work, not a claim that these roles are safer.

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Beyond AI capability

Adoption and labour-market outlook

Structural factors are kept separate from raw capability so you can see what actually resists automation. Adoption pressure and labour-market resilience are still provisional models—25% of this occupation’s replacement-risk weight rests on them.

Human dependency72
Physical dependency26
Adoption pressure57
Labour-market resilience58
Methodology & sources

O*NET 30.3 occupational data interpreted through the JobsVsAI capability, automation and structural-constraint models.

Confidence82/100
CalculatedAug 21, 2026
Read methodology →