Glossary
Pump Operator Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential pump operator terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key pump operator vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in pump operator training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- DCS
- Distributed control system.
- Flowline
- Pipe from the well.
- Gauging
- Measuring tank levels.
- H2S
- Toxic gas.
- Heater treater
- Separates oil and water.
- Lease
- Oil and gas property.
- Lockout/tagout
- Energy isolation.
- P&ID
- Piping and instrumentation diagram.
- Pump jack
- Oil well pump.
- Pumper
- Field pump operator.
- Rounds
- Scheduled equipment checks.
- Run ticket
- Record of oil sold.
- SOP
- Standard operating procedure.
- Stuffing box
- Seals the rod.
- Tank battery
- Group of tanks.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Pump Operator practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Pump Operator training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.