Gas or Petroleum Operator

Job titles this occupation covers

If your job title is one of these, this is usually the code it belongs to, whatever your employer calls the role.

• Oil and Gas Well Treatment Operator
• Oil, Gas and Pipe Tester
• Petroleum and Gas Refining and Pumping Operator

Specialisations within it

• Gas Compressor Turbine Operator
• Petroleum Blending Plant Operator
• Petroleum Terminal Plant Operator
• Refinery Pipeline Operator

Duties

Published for unit group 3992 Chemical, Gas, Petroleum and Power Generation Plant Operators

• controlling equipment performing continuous and batch processes to process chemicals and natural gas, manufacture refined petroleum products, and blend petroleum base stocks to produce commercial fuels, lubricating oils and asphalt
• controlling the preparation, measuring and feeding of raw material and processing agents such as catalysts and filtering media into plant
• patrolling and inspecting equipment to ensure proper operation and setting operating controls on equipment
• analysing samples and readings and recording test data
• controlling records of production, quantities transferred and details of blending and pumping operations
• checking equipment for malfunctions and arranging maintenance
• operating power generation plant controls to produce required load
• monitoring operation of power generation plant and interpreting instrument readings
• authorising procedures to isolate high-voltage and low-voltage electrical apparatus and plant
• writing reports and maintaining records on equipment performance, instrument readings and switching operations
• carrying out routine operating tests

This is what the occupation is, not what a skills assessment requires. The assessing body applies its own criteria on top of this, and those criteria are not published here. Check them with the body itself.

Who assesses this occupation

Last confirmed against the department's list on 30 July 2026.

This occupation reads differently for the 186 and 482

Two editions of ANZSCO are current at once, and the department applies ANZSCO 2022 to the employer sponsored visas while everything above follows ANZSCO 2013.

The definition is identical in both editions, but the published duties are not:

• controlling equipment performing continuous and batch processes to process chemicals and natural gas, manufacture refined petroleum products, and blend petroleum base stocks to produce commercial fuels, lubricating oils and asphalt
• controlling the preparation, measuring and feeding of raw material and processing agents such as catalysts and filtering media into plant
• patrolling and inspecting equipment to ensure proper operation and setting operating controls on equipment
• analysing samples and readings and recording test data
• controlling records of production, quantities transferred and details of blending and pumping operations
• checking equipment for malfunctions
• inspecting, repairing, servicing and maintaining equipment
• operating power generation plant controls to produce required load
• monitoring operation of power generation plant and interpreting instrument readings
• authorising procedures to isolate high-voltage and low-voltage electrical apparatus and plant
• writing reports and maintaining records on equipment performance, instrument readings and switching operations
• carrying out routine operating tests

If you are going for a 186 or a 482, this is the wording that governs you. Everything above governs the points tested routes.

Where this comes from

Definition and duties: Australian Bureau of Statistics, ANZSCO
Assessing authorities and skilled lists: Department of Home Affairs skilled occupation list

Vizard is not a registered migration agent and nothing here is migration advice. It is published government information, organised. For advice on your own situation, speak to a registered migration agent.