How to become a Coal Seam Gas Production Operator

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 煤层气排采集输工

Also called: Coal Seam Gas Logging and Testing Operator, Coal Seam Gas Cementing Operator, Coal Seam Gas Stimulation Operator, Coal Seam Gas Dewatering Operator, Coal Seam Gas Workover Operator, Coal Seam Gas Gathering Operator, Coal Seam Gas Compression Operator, Horizontal Directional Drill Operator, Coal Seam Gas Exploration Surveyor

Uses dewatering, drainage and compression equipment and gathering pipelines to stimulate, produce and transport gas from coal seam gas wells.

Main tasks

• Increasing permeability and injecting gas for displacement with fracturing pump trucks and other equipment
• Operating pumpjacks, progressing cavity pumps, generators, desulphurisation and compression equipment for dewatering and gathering
• Collecting and organising production data from coal seam gas wells
• Testing gas composition with gas chromatographs
• Freeing stuck downhole pumps by bumping them
• Servicing downhole pumps with workover rigs and clearing sand and coal fines
• Controlling inlet and outlet pipelines and valve stations and metering throughput
• Checking, adjusting and maintaining equipment and recording operating data
• Monitoring pipelines with pipe locators and thickness gauges and maintaining pipelines and instruments

Ways in

• Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Coalbed Methane Extraction and Transport Technology (420506). Vocational major 420506 Coalbed Methane Extraction and Transport Technology (煤层气采输技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向).; Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Intelligent Oil and Gas Production Technology (420404). Vocational major 420404 Intelligent Oil and Gas Production Technology (油气智能开采技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向).

Pay · AI and this job

• Median pay in China: CN¥81,700 a year (2025).
• Middle half: CN¥53,100 to CN¥125,200. One in ten earn less than CN¥38,100 and one in ten more than CN¥178,000.
• This is the figure for the mid group Mining Workers, not for this job alone.
• National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• The census group Mining Workers holds 0.45% of everyone employed in China; 10.2% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
• 23.1% are under 35, 67.8% are 35 to 54 and 9% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 40 to 44.
• Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

Related jobs

• Petroleum Exploration Field Worker
• Drilling Rig Worker
• Drilling Services Worker
• Well Servicing Operator
• Subsea Drilling Equipment Operator
• Well Logging and Testing Operator

Not sure this is for you? Take the 2-minute career quiz

Questions people ask

How do I become a Coal Seam Gas Production Operator?

Ways in include: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Coalbed Methane Extraction and Transport Technology (420506); Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Intelligent Oil and Gas Production Technology (420404).

How much does a Coal Seam Gas Production Operator earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥81,700 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Mining Workers.

Will AI change the work of a Coal Seam Gas Production Operator?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.

Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.

Updated 5 October 2026