Pumper & Lease Operator Jobs In North Dakota

When A Pumper Ad Is Really Two Jobs

The one posting that printed a wage asks for a CDL with a tanker endorsement, plus the ability to run excavators, cranes and forklifts.

A normal pumper does not need any of that. You run a route in a truck. You do not haul product and you are not operating a crane.

So an ad like that is describing a combined seat...pumping plus hauling plus roustabout work, on the same lease, for one rate. That is not automatically a bad job. Some hands like the variety and it makes you harder to lay off. But you should know that is what you are signing up for, and you should not read that rate as the going rate for pumping.

The question to ask: am I running a route, or am I running a route and doing everything else on the lease? If it is the second one, the pay should reflect two jobs, not one.

What The Job Actually Is

You have a route. Every day you drive it and you check every well on it.

• Gauging tanks and recording levels
• Reading and recording production...oil, water, gas
• Checking pumping units, walking the location, looking for what changed since yesterday
• Inspecting flow lines, valves, separators and tanks for leaks and corrosion
• Light maintenance and preventive work to keep a well from going down
• Documenting everything...shift reports, production data, maintenance records
• Calling out the problems you cannot fix yourself, before they become expensive

The value of a good pumper is noticing. A well that is a little off today is a well that is down next week, and the man who catches it is worth more than the man who just writes numbers on a sheet.

Why Hands Want This Seat

• You work alone. No crew, no pusher over your shoulder. For a lot of guys that is the whole appeal.
• It is usually local and usually days. Home most nights, in a truck rather than on a rig.
• It is easier on the body than roustabout, frac or trucking, which matters when you have been out here fifteen years.
• It is a long career. Production work does not slow down the way drilling and completions do when the rig count drops.

How Hands Get Into It

Almost nobody starts here. It is a seat you move into once somebody trusts your judgment.

The most common route in this basin is from roustabout. One Alexander operator writes relief pumper duties directly into its roustabout job description...learning the routes and covering when the pumper is off. That is the on ramp, and it is worth asking about by name if production work is where you want to end up.

The other common route is from a truck seat that already runs the same leases, because you already know the roads and the pads and the people.

What They Ask For

• Prior oilfield experience. Lease operating experience preferred at the one posting that stated a requirement.
• Mechanical understanding of pumps, tanks, separators and flow lines.
• Valid driver's licence. A CDL is not standard for pumping...if an ad requires one with a tanker endorsement, read the rest of the duties carefully.
• Documentation discipline. Production numbers are regulatory records, not paperwork.
• Willingness to relocate at some operators. One requires you to move before starting.

Where These Numbers Come From

We found three North Dakota pumper and lease operator listings and read all three. Only one printed a wage, and that one asks for a CDL with tanker plus heavy equipment operation on top of pumping...which makes it a combined seat rather than a standard pumper job.

Because of that we are not presenting its rate as the going rate. The $30–36 band is our own read, boxed and labelled, based on working this basin. If a figure is not in that amber box, an employer printed it and their name is next to it.

We report what a company posted. We do not grade it. Pointing out that an ad describes two jobs is not a criticism of the company...it is information a man deserves before he takes the seat.

One more thing worth knowing. Some job descriptions out here are padded with duties that do not belong to the role...we read a pumper ad that listed assisting with horizontal drilling. Read them, but read them with your own knowledge switched on.

Common Questions