Will AI replace Petroleum Engineers?
The Stanford WORKBank study rates tasks, not whole jobs, so it cannot say whether any one job disappears. What it shows: AI experts rate 2 of the 7 studied Petroleum Engineers tasks as do-able by AI today, and 2 of those are tasks workers also want automated. Only 7 tasks were studied for this role, so treat the share as a rough signal.
of tasks in the Petroleum Engineers role are ones AI can already do, per AI experts.
From a Stanford study where AI experts and petroleum engineers workers rated each real task (O*NET). Not a guess from the job title.
Key statistics
Free to cite, with a link back to Automatable.
- AI can already do 29% of the 7 work tasks in the Petroleum Engineers role, according to AI experts in the Stanford WORKBank study (O*NET SOC 17-2171.00).
- Workers in the Petroleum Engineers role rate 100% of their tasks 3 or higher out of 5 for wanting them automated (Stanford WORKBank, 1,500 U.S. workers).
- 2 of 7 Petroleum Engineers tasks are Automation Green Light, wanted by workers and do-able by AI, that is 29% of the role (Stanford WORKBank).
- The typical Petroleum Engineers task scores 3.65/5 for worker desire to automate and 2.76/5 for AI capability today (Stanford WORKBank, 1-5 scale).
- The Petroleum Engineers role (O*NET SOC 17-2171.00) has a median U.S. wage of $153,560 and about 18,970 people employed (U.S. O*NET / BLS).
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What workers told Stanford
Of the 7 tasks studied for Petroleum Engineers, 2 (29%) are in the Automation Green Light zone, AI can largely do them and workers want it. Across all tasks, workers rate 100% of their tasks 3 or higher out of 5 for wanting them automated. The typical task scores 3.65/5 for worker desire and 2.76/5 for AI capability.
All 7 tasks, most-wanted first
Maintain records of drilling and production operations.
R&D Opportunitywant 4.33 · AI 3Assign work to staff to obtain maximum utilization of personnel.
R&D Opportunitywant 4 · AI 2.5Evaluate findings to develop, design, or test equipment or processes.
R&D Opportunitywant 4 · AI 2Write technical reports for engineering and management personnel.
Green Lightwant 3.6 · AI 4.33Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production.
R&D Opportunitywant 3.6 · AI 2Interpret drilling and testing information for personnel.
Green Lightwant 3 · AI 3.5Analyze data to recommend placement of wells and supplementary processes to enhance production.
R&D Opportunitywant 3 · AI 2
Related occupations
Other Architecture and Engineering roles in the Stanford WORKBank study, closest AI-capability share first.
- Civil EngineersAI can do 20% of tasks today · workers want 60% automated
- Aerospace EngineersAI can do 20% of tasks today · workers want 100% automated
- Mechanical Engineering Technologists and TechniciansAI can do 20% of tasks today · workers want 60% automated
- Architectural and Civil DraftersAI can do 50% of tasks today · workers want 50% automated
Lower-automation alternatives
Less of these jobs is automatable today: AI experts rate a smaller share of their tasks as doable than the 29% for Petroleum Engineers (Stanford WORKBank).
Petroleum Engineers ranks #75 of 104 studied roles by the share of tasks AI experts rate as do-able today. See which roles top and bottom the list in the most automatable jobs in 2026.