How to become a petroleum and natural gas refining plant operator

Official title: Petroleum and natural gas refining plant operators

Also called: Blender operator (petroleum and natural gas refining ), Gas plant operator, Paraffin plant operator, Petroleum process operator, Refinery process technician, Still operator (petroleum and natural gas refining)

Petroleum and natural gas refining plant operators operate and monitor plants and adjust and maintain processing units and equipment which refine, distil and treat petroleum, petroleum-based products and by-products, or natural gas.

Main tasks

• Operating electronic or computerized control panels from a central control room to monitor and optimize physical and chemical processes for several processing units
• Adjusting equipment, valves, pumps, controls and process equipment
• Controlling process start-up and shut-down, troubleshooting and monitoring outside process equipment
• Verifying equipment for malfunctions, testing well pipes for leaks and fractures and arranging for maintenance
• Analysing sample products, performing tests, recording data and writing production logs

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Median pay: HK$27,000 a month
• About 1,542,900 people in 2025, and about 1,639,100 projected by 2028. (+6.2%)
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

• Power production plant operators
• Metal production process controllers
• Chemical processing plant controllers
• Process control technicians not elsewhere classified
• Incinerator and water treatment plant operators

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Questions people ask

Do you need a degree to become a petroleum and natural gas refining plant operator?

Not always. 41% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of a petroleum and natural gas refining plant operator?

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

Sources

• Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 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

Updated 4 October 2026