Gas Plant Operators
Distribute or process gas for utility companies and others by controlling compressors to maintain specified pressures on main pipelines.
- Median pay
- $87,820
- Doing it now
- 18,200
- By 2035
- Down 6%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
1,400 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Monitor transportation and storage of flammable and other potentially dangerous products to ensure that safety guidelines are followed.
- Monitor equipment functioning, observe temperature, level, and flow gauges, and perform regular unit checks to ensure that all equipment is operating as it should.
- Control operation of compressors, scrubbers, evaporators, and refrigeration equipment to liquefy, compress, or regasify natural gas.
- Start and shut down plant equipment.
- Record, review, and compile operations records, test results, and gauge readings such as temperatures, pressures, concentrations, and flows.
- Adjust temperature, pressure, vacuum, level, flow rate, or transfer of gas to maintain processes at required levels or to correct problems.
- Clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using hand tools, or request that repair and maintenance work be performed.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Mining and Petroleum Technologies/TechniciansSee 3 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $87,820 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.