Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 18,000 people employed as wellhead pumpers in the United States. The median annual salary is $63,740. Entry level employees earn approximately $38,590 per year and senior employees earn approximately $94,050 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Monitor pumps and flow lines for gas and fluid leaks.
• Gauge oil and gas production.
• Attach pumps and hoses to wellheads.
• Mix acids, chemicals, or dry cement as required for a specific job.
• Unload and assemble pipes and pumping equipment, using hand tools.
• Supervise oil pumpers and other workers engaged in producing oil from wells.
• Drive trucks to transport high-pressure pumping equipment, and chemicals, fluids, or gases to be pumped into wells.
• Control pumping and blending equipment to acidize, cement, or fracture gas or oil wells and permeable rock formations.
• Start compressor engines and divert oil from storage tanks into compressor units and auxiliary equipment to recover natural gas from oil.
• Monitor control panels during pumping operations to ensure that materials are being pumped at the correct pressure, density, rate, and concentration.
• Operate engines and pumps to shut off wells according to production schedules, and to switch flow of oil into storage tanks.
• Repair gas and oil meters and gauges.
• Perform routine maintenance on vehicles and equipment.
• Open valves to return compressed gas to bottoms of specified wells to repressurize them and force oil to surface.
• Change water filters.
• Prepare trucks and equipment necessary for the type of pumping service required.

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