Driving Production: An Operator’s Role in the Oilfield Race

travismccaughey
58 minutes ago
3 min read

"So… what do you operate? A forklift? A front-end loader?"

If you’re an oil and gas operator, you’ve heard this before. And sure, many of us can run that kind

of equipment—but that’s not the core of our job.

We operate oil and gas production systems. The best way I can explain it?

We’re the drivers in a NASCAR race.

We Don’t Build the Track

The track? That’s Construction and Production Engineers. Construction builds the lease roads, lay the pipelines, and install the equipment.

And deciding where the track should even go? That’s Exploration—they locate the oil, plan the wells, and figure out the drilling strategy.

So no—we don’t pave the track or choose the layout. But without one, we wouldn’t be driving at all.

The Car? Not Ours Either

We don’t build the car. That’s on Facility Engineers. They design and deliver us the “car”—the well and facility—and they give us the specs:

“Here’s how fast it can go. Here’s how fast it should go. Keep it between the lines—and don’t blow it up.”

But let’s be honest—sometimes the car starts smoking after a couple laps. Other times, it never gets rolled off the trailer.

Either way, we’ve got to be responsible drivers—a lot of people and hard work have got us to this point.

We're Not the Pit Crew

The mechanics, maintenance techs, and lab teams—they’re the pit crew. They swap out valves, collect samples, repair leaks, refill chemical tanks, adjust pump rates, and fix what’s broken.

When we push too hard and something fails? They’re the ones who crawl under the hood to get us back out there.

Sometimes, yeah—we might overdrive and crash it into the wall trying to get that extra bit of production. Then they give us that look like:

“Really? You had to go for five more barrels?”

That's why we have safety and risk management.

Management = Crew Chiefs and Compliance

The crew chief and pit wall? That’s Operations Management. They call the plays. They can see the whole track, tell us when to slow down, when to turn in, when to optimize, when to bring more wells online, or when to shift strategy altogether.

They’re balancing production goals, budgets, safety, and compliance—all while maintaining our competitiveness.

What We Do: We Drive

We’re the ones behind the wheel every day. We balance efficiency with safety. We manage variables—flowback rates, tank levels, flare volumes, pressures, linepack, chemical dosing—and keep production optimized.

We find the fastest, safest, most economical way to make laps.

Some operators go pedal down. Some stay conservative. Sometimes you’ve got a fresh set of

tires (new wells, new facilities). Other times, you’re dragging a 25-year-old well out of the barn with band-aids and duct tape—still trying to get barrels out of it.

The oilfield is a race track Find oil. Produce oil. Find more oil. Produce more oil.

Just one big circle, one big lap.

If you know anything about racing, the laps count.

If you’re looking to grow in your role, improve how you communicate across teams, or just want more real-world oilfield insight, here are a few resources worth checking out:

Read more stories and strategies from the field on the Crude Communication blog.
Listen to conversations with field professionals and leaders on The Crude Cast podcast.
Get the book: Crude Communication: Extracted Insights from the Oilfield—packed with tools to improve collaboration and leadership in the patch