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The Lease Pumper’s Handbook
Chapter 1
Responsibilities and Employee-Employer Relations
Section B
FIELD OPERATIONS
In addition to understanding the duties and
responsibilities described in the previous
section, the lease pumper must be properly
outfitted to do the work that is required. This
means wearing clothing and other gear that
will allow the job to be done efficiently and
safely and having and maintaining the tools
required to do all assigned tasks.
The cost of lease tools is just one of the
expenses required in the operation of a lease.
Supplies such as chemicals and utilities such
as electricity also contribute to these costs.
Often the lease pumper can take actions to
reduce operating costs and improve the
profitability of the lease.
Another influence on field operations and
operating costs is the requirements imposed
by regulatory agencies.
This section provides an overview of what
it takes for the lease pumper to be properly
outfitted and equipped as well as other
factors that influence field operations and
operating costs.
B-1. Dressed for Work and Weather.
Most of the work performed by a lease
pumper is done outdoors and must be done
no matter what the weather is. This means
that a lease pumper must dress appropriately
for the work to be done and the weather
conditions. This means that the cloths must
allow the lease pumper enough freedom of
movement to do the required tasks while
providing protection against moving or hot
equipment, chemical splatter, falling
materials, and other risks. The clothing
must also provide protection against the
environment, including cold and wet
weather or intense sun and heat. The lease
pumper must also be aware that weather can
change quickly, so that in the course of a day
the lease pumper may need protection
against cold in the morning and protection
against the sun in the afternoon or the day
may start out warm and dry but end cold and
wet. Clothing can be added or removed,
according to changes in the weather. A poor
selection of clothing can adversely affect job
performance.
Normal lease pumper attire may include:
· Full-length pants.
· Long-sleeved shirt or coveralls.
· Steel-toed shoes.
· Eyeglasses and protective shields.
· Gloves. Rubber gloves for some tasks
and cloth gloves for others.
· Hard hat.
Full-length pants and long shirt sleeves.
Many of the chemicals and crude oils
involved in the job can be a health hazard if
not handled properly. Some chemicals are
capable of penetrating the skin and entering
the body just by coming into physical
contact. This is especially true when the oil
or chemical is extremely hot. Full-length
clothing is the first line of defense against
chemicals, oil, sun damage, and insect bites.
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Steel-toed shoes. Sturdy shoes with steel
toe protectors shield the feet from falling
objects. Many serious foot injuries can be
avoided by wearing protective shoes.
Eyeglasses and protective shields. Many
of the jobs that a lease pumper performs
present risks to the eyes. These risks include
chemicals that may splash into the eyes,
flying objects from moving parts or
hammering, intense light from welding or
cutting equipment, and other dangers.
Because of the number of different types of
risks, several styles and types of eye
protection are required (Figure 1). For
example, shatter-resistant glasses may
protect against a flying object approaching
the eye directly but offer little protection
against chemical splashes from the side or
the bright light and spatter from a gas cutting
torch.
Figure 1. Some lease activities require the
use of eye protection.
Gloves. While there are many types of
gloves available, they are not equally suited
for all jobs performed by the lease pumper.
Cotton gloves are satisfactory for clearing
brush or handling some equipment, but
leather gloves may wear better when
working with pipe and wire rope. Leather
gloves as well as rubber gloves offer some
protection against electrical shock. Rubber
gloves or gloves of other special materials
may also afford protection against harmful
chemicals, such as some of the chemicals
used to test oil prior to sale. The lease
pumper should have the different types of
gloves required for the tasks to be performed
and replacement gloves when those become
worn or unusable due to contamination.
Hard hat. A hat offers some protection
against the elements and may reduce the
chance of injury from falling objects and
overhanging obstacles. However, some
tasks performed by the lease pumper present
greater risks of head injury and require the
level of protection offered by a hard hat.
Many companies require lease pumpers to
wear hard hats whenever they are on the
lease and outside the vehicle. In fact,
everyone who enters the lease may be
required to wear a hard hat.
Lease pumpers should follow their
company’s policies with regard to wearing
hard hats. Hard hats vary in style and fit and
features, such as brim width. If more than
one style of hat is suitable for the work to be
performed, a lease pumper should choose a
hard hat that is personally comfortable so
that there will be no reluctance to wear it
when required.
B-2. Miscellaneous Gear.
There are some items that most lease
pumpers consider to be indispensable for
day-to-day operations. These may include:
· Rags or wipes.
· Pen, pencils, and paper.
·
Pocket knife.
·
Measuring tape.
·
Pocket calculator.

Rags or wipes. The lease pumper needs a
good supply of wipes to clean tools,
equipment, hands, vehicles, and most
everything else that visits the lease. Some
field workers use paper wipes, while others
prefer cloth rags. The latter may be shop
clothes that have been rented or purchased
from an equipment or uniform supplier.
Another source of rags is used clothing from
an outlet that sells clothing by the pound or
bundle. This material can then be cut to a
useful size. Many lease pumpers take
advantage of bargain sources of rags because
the rags quickly become soiled and worn
and because there are so many items to keep
clean, including the vehicle, tools, tool
boxes, gauging and shakeout equipment, the
areas around thief hatches, and other places
regularly involved in the work. Keeping the
site and equipment clean will enhance safety
by reducing the chances of slipping on an oil
spot, will improve efficiency by making it
easier to get around the site, and will reduce
the time spent on other maintenance, such as
lubrication and corrosion protection.
Pens, pencils, and paper. The lease
pumper must maintain the lease record book,
record the hours worked by special crews,
make notes about equipment and supply
needs and work to be done, update
equipment readings, and perform a host of
other tasks that require a written record. It is
important to keep pens, pencils, and paper
available, even if the company has electronic
equipment to record gauges and field
readings.
Other items. The lease pumper may also
want to carry a pocket knife, measuring tape,
vernier scale, paint marking stick, calculator,
and spare site and vehicle keys. Many of
these items may prove handy for daily tasks,
while others may be most useful in an
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emergency, such as when the keys have been
locked in the vehicle or dropped in a snow
drift in the dark.
B-3. Typical Lease Hand Tools.
The tools that are required on the lease
will depend on how much of the fieldwork is
done by company personnel. As noted in the
previous section, there is a trend in the
industry to contract with a field service
company for much of the service and
maintenance. This approach greatly reduces
the number and types of tools that the lease
pumper must carry, sometimes to the extent
that the lease pumper is required to furnish
the hand tools.. In some cases, lease
pumpers drive their own vehicles and are
then reimbursed for the miles driven. This
mileage pay must cover the cost of the fuel,
maintenance, insurance, and replacement of
the vehicle.
The following lists include the basic tools
necessary to perform the duties that are
generally expected of a lease pumper.
However, the exact requirements will vary
from company to company. Lease pumpers
should ascertain before accepting a job the
tools that are required to do the work, those
with which they will be provided, and any
that they may be expected to provide. The
lease pumper should also determine the
company policy on replacing tools that are
lost, broken, or worn.
This means that an important task of the
lease pumper is to learn to take care of those
tools. It can be frustrating to need a
particular wrench to open a valve only to
realize that that wrench was left lying on the
pickup fender two wells earlier and is now
forever lost somewhere six feet off the road
in tall grass. Some lease pumpers who are
careless with their tools are quick to make
requests for lost tools to replacement
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supervisors when their regular supervisor is
on vacation, neglecting to mention that these
tools have already been replaced twice this
year. This is why some companies assign
tools, and, when the lease pumper leaves the
job, each tool must be accounted for or the
replacement cost is deducted from the final
paycheck. If the lease pumper is not held
responsible for issued tools, the lease owner
may not be able to afford to keep a lease
pumper who is careless with tools.
Vehicle tool and equipment storage. The
lease pumper’s vehicle generally provides
three main areas of storage: the glove
compartment, elsewhere in the passenger
compartment, and in the rear of the vehicle
or bed of the pickup. Rear storage areas
generally contain toolboxes or other
equipment containers to protect the tools and
keep them organized. For safety and
security, toolboxes should be lockable and
the vehicle should be equipped with a roll
bar. Common contents of these areas
include:
The lease pumper’s toolbox and storage
shed. It would be impossible and
impractical for the lease pumper to try to
carry every tool and all the supplies that
could possibly be needed for the situations
that can arise on an oil or gas lease. There
are a few tools that are generally essential to
being able to pump a lease efficiently, but
even so the tools that the lease pumper
carries will depend to a great degree on the
number of wells on the lease(s), the type of
equipment on the lease that must be
serviced, the amount of work support that is
available, and the depth of maintenance that
must be performed. Most of the commonly
used tools will be carried in the vehicle.
Other tools may be stored on the lease in the
lease pumper’s office—sometimes called a
doghouse—or in a storage building. If a tool
can conveniently be stored at the lease, this
is desirable since tools can become rather
shop worn and ragged within a short time
when carried around in the vehicle over
rough roads.
A minimum set of tools may include:

Glove compartment. Digging, moving, and hauling.

Calculator. Test gauge. Shovel. Rake.
Pens, paper, pencils. Measuring tape. Hoe. Moving bar.
Daily gauge book. Pocket knife. Tying rope. Small chain.
Lease record book. Safety goggles. Pick. Chain boomer.
Flashlight and batteries. Weed cutter. Post hole digger.

Cab storage. Mechanic-style tools.

First-aid kit. Screwdriver assortment. Wire cutters.
H2S backpack (if required) Allen hex wrenches. Pliers.
Small fire extinguisher. Fencing pliers. Socket set(s).
Hard hat. Needle nose pliers. Punches.
Open-/box-end wrenches. Chisels.
Rear compartment. Adj. smooth jaw wrenches. Hammers.
Water can. Motor oil. Adj. pipe wrenches. Hack saw.
Oil squirt can. Gasoline can. Assorted files. Snips.
Engine water. Antifreeze. Locking pliers. Wire brushes.
Miscellaneous parts as needed. 36-inch pipe wrench. Putty knife.
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Miscellaneous items. required tools and equipment. Tools and

Safety wire. Feeler gauges. supplies are just one of the expenses that
Tubing tools. Packing hook. contribute to the cost of operating an oil or
Vernier style caliper. Ease-outs. gas lease. The salaries and benefits of the
Steel wool or sandpaper. Cleaning fluid. lease pumper and other employees is also an
Small bolt assortment. Paint brush. expense that must be paid for from the
Grease fitting asst. Small bolts. money made selling petroleum products
Nuts. Washers. from the well. Some lease operating
Cotter pins. Shim stock. expenses are set—that is, little that the lease
pumper does will affect the amount of the
B-4. Oil Gauging and Test Equipment. expense. Some of the typical set expenses
include:
Gauging, test, and other special equipment
should be transported in suitable cases. · Drilling and workover costs.
Typically, this equipment may include: · Management costs.
· Salaries.
· Gauge line with required tape. · Vehicle purchase cost.
· Oil thief. · Daily supply costs.
· Centrifuge, hand or electric. · Lease purchase costs.
· Centrifuge tubes, 12.5 or 100 ml.
· Hydrometer, appropriate range. Obviously the lease pumper does have
· Thermometer (preferably with scoop). some influence over some of these costs. For
· Kolor Kut paste. example, if a lease pumper abuses sick
· Wipe rags. leave, the company will have to pay more in
· Tank seals. salaries to provide relief. If the lease
· Squirt can with cleaning fluid. pumper drives the vehicle recklessly and
does not care for it, it will have to be
replaced more often. Further, there are other
costs that are directly affected by how well
the lease pumper performs the required
tasks. Some of the operating cost that the
lease pumper can most directly influence
are:

Figure 2. A typical set of gauging and oil
analysis tools.
(Courtesy W.L. Walker Company)
B-5. Lease Operating Expenses.
The preceding paragraphs should give
some indication of the tremendous
investment required to stock a lease with the
Supply expenses. Supply expenses can be
often reduced through the careful use of
supplies. This does not mean to avoid
buying required supplies, such as not
lubricating equipment to save the cost of
grease. This is false economy as the damage
to the equipment far exceeds the cost of the
grease. Suggestions in saving supply costs
include:
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· Stuffing box packing. Stuffing box
packing on a shallow well (less than
2,000 feet deep) with stripper production
should easily last a year or even two
even if the engine runs 24 hours a day.
The lease pumper should learn not only
how to adjust the packing correctly, but
also how to recognize the problems
causing high packing consumption and
then to solve the problem. Stuffing
boxes (Figure 3) often leak because the
lease pumper over-tightens them just to
be sure that they do not leak.
Figure 3. A stuffing box.
· Lease electricity. In most areas, electric
companies have at least two charge rates
for the electricity that they provide. A
higher cost is usually charged for
electricity used during peak load
periods—that is, when electricity
consumption is at its highest, such as
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. If a well must run
four hours per day to meet production
requirements, the lease pumper should
set the well to operate during non-peak
periods so that the cost of electricity is
less. Another consideration is that pump
engines draw a heavy electrical load
when they first start to get the idle parts
moving. If a well must pump 10 hours
per day, it will take less electricity to run
it for 10 hours straight rather than to start
the engine five times to run two hours
each (though other factors may also have
to be considered).
Figure 4. Chemical injection system.
· Chemical expense. One of the methods
of treating oil is the use of chemicals
(Figure 4). Oil treating chemicals can be
very expensive. Sometimes a lease
pumper may add extra chemicals,
thinking that if a little is good, then more
is better. Another lease pumper may
simply be careless at measuring or may
spill chemical. A typical cost for

treatment chemicals is $30 per gallon. If
a lease pumper has five wells and wastes
one gallon of chemical per month at each
well, the company pays $150 per month,
or $1,800 annually, for wasted
chemicals.
B-6. Government Regulating Agencies.
There are several agencies that the lease
pumper may have to deal with in the field.
The purpose of these agencies is to ensure
that lease operations are safe, efficient, do
not excessively harm the environment, and
are consistent with other concerns of the
nation and its people. Some of the more
important agencies are:
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
The federal government owns much of the
mineral rights in the United States. The
Bureau of Land Management oversees
activities on these public lands to protect the
citizens’ property. BLM inspectors monitor
oil and gas lease operations and issue
guidelines, such as requiring that the handle
on the sales line be sealed in such a manner
that the valve cannot be opened unless the
seal has been broken. Publications are
available that contain guidelines for drilling,
production, and pipeline operations.
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA). Work on the
lease site is generally subject to the
requirements of the Occupational Safety and
Health Act. Under the guidelines of the act,
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employees must be advised of the dangers
they face. This information is usually
provided through training or through
warning indicators or signs. OSHA
regulations may also define protective gear
requirements, such as hard hats and safety
face shields, and prescribe how the gear is to
be used. For example, when performing
duties, such as gauging tanks that contain
hydrogen sulfide gas, the lease pumper is
required to wear a mask that provides a
source of breathable air and that prevents the
worker from breathing the toxic hydrogen
sulfide. Additionally, the worker must wear
the mask in such a way that a good seal is
obtained, which may mean that beards and
facial hair may be forbidden or required to
be trimmed in such a way that the mask
provides the required seal. Employers are
subject to severe fines and penalties if their
employees are not in compliance with
OSHA regulations, and employees can be
punished or fired for failing to comply with
government or company safety policies.
Environmental protection and standards.
Many laws have been passed to protect the
environment. These laws help to protect the
air, soil, surface water, and groundwater
from contamination. Special guidelines
have been issued for various industries,
including petroleum production. Special
concerns for lease pumpers are oil spills,
venting high volumes of gases, or the loss of
salt water or oil. Even pipe that is pulled out
of a well may be contaminated by radiation
and have to be stored in a special manner.
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