diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index dca7d54e..1d53e7e2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Added
 
+- Compress and Extract end-points now support multiple compresion types (none, bz2, gzip, and xz).
+
 ### Changed
 
 ## [2.3.1]
diff --git a/src/firecrest/filesystem/ops/commands/tar_command.py b/src/firecrest/filesystem/ops/commands/tar_command.py
index f4ec6be7..3131358f 100644
--- a/src/firecrest/filesystem/ops/commands/tar_command.py
+++ b/src/firecrest/filesystem/ops/commands/tar_command.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 from enum import Enum
 import os
 
+from fastapi import HTTPException, status
+
 from firecrest.filesystem.ops.commands.base_command_with_timeout import (
     BaseCommandWithTimeout,
 )
@@ -17,12 +19,19 @@ class Operation(str, Enum):
         compress = "compress"
         extract = "extract"
 
+    class CompressionType(str, Enum):
+        none = "none"
+        bzip2 = "bzip2"
+        gzip = "gzip"
+        xz = "xz"
+
     def __init__(
         self,
         source_path: str,
         target_path: str,
         match_pattern: str = None,
         dereference: bool = False,
+        compression: CompressionType = CompressionType.gzip,
         operation: Operation = Operation.compress,
     ) -> None:
         super().__init__()
@@ -32,6 +41,21 @@ def __init__(
         self.dereference = dereference
         self.operation = operation
 
+        match compression:
+            case TarCommand.CompressionType.none:
+                self.compression_flag = ""
+            case TarCommand.CompressionType.gzip:
+                self.compression_flag = "z"
+            case TarCommand.CompressionType.bzip2:
+                self.compression_flag = "j"
+            case TarCommand.CompressionType.xz:
+                self.compression_flag = "J"
+            case _:
+                raise HTTPException(
+                    status_code=status.HTTP_501_NOT_IMPLEMENTED,
+                    detail="The requested compression type is not implemented.",
+                )
+
     def get_command(
         self,
     ) -> str:
@@ -53,11 +77,11 @@ def get_compress_command(self) -> str:
         if self.match_pattern:
             return f"{super().get_command()} bash -c \"cd {source_dir}; {super().get_command()} find . -type f -regex '{self.match_pattern}' -print0 | tar {options} -czvf '{self.target_path}' --null --files-from - \""
 
-        return f"{super().get_command()} tar {options} -czvf '{self.target_path}' -C '{source_dir}' '{source_file}'"
+        return f"{super().get_command()} tar {options} -c{self.compression_flag}vf '{self.target_path}' -C '{source_dir}' '{source_file}'"
 
     def get_extract_command(self) -> str:
 
-        return f"{super().get_command()} tar -xzf '{self.source_path}' -C '{self.target_path}'"
+        return f"{super().get_command()} tar -x{self.compression_flag}f '{self.source_path}' -C '{self.target_path}'"
 
     def parse_output(self, stdout: str, stderr: str, exit_status: int):
         if exit_status != 0:
diff --git a/src/firecrest/filesystem/ops/models.py b/src/firecrest/filesystem/ops/models.py
index 0b8b9817..1eb418ba 100644
--- a/src/firecrest/filesystem/ops/models.py
+++ b/src/firecrest/filesystem/ops/models.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 from firecrest.filesystem.models import FilesystemRequestBase
 from lib.models import CamelModel
 from pydantic import Field
+from firecrest.filesystem.ops.commands.tar_command import TarCommand
 
 
 class ContentUnit(str, Enum):
@@ -100,12 +101,7 @@ class PutFileChmodRequest(FilesystemRequestBase):
     mode: str = Field(..., description="Mode in octal permission format")
     model_config = {
         "json_schema_extra": {
-            "examples": [
-                {
-                    "path": "/home/user/dir/file.out",
-                    "mode": "777"
-                }
-            ]
+            "examples": [{"path": "/home/user/dir/file.out", "mode": "777"}]
         }
     }
 
@@ -115,15 +111,19 @@ class PutFileChmodResponse(CamelModel):
 
 
 class PutFileChownRequest(FilesystemRequestBase):
-    owner: Optional[str] = Field(default="", description="User name of the new user owner of the file")
-    group: Optional[str] = Field(default="", description="Group name of the new group owner of the file")
+    owner: Optional[str] = Field(
+        default="", description="User name of the new user owner of the file"
+    )
+    group: Optional[str] = Field(
+        default="", description="Group name of the new group owner of the file"
+    )
     model_config = {
         "json_schema_extra": {
             "examples": [
                 {
                     "path": "/home/user/dir/file.out",
                     "owner": "user",
-                    "group": "my-group"
+                    "group": "my-group",
                 }
             ]
         }
@@ -135,15 +135,13 @@ class PutFileChownResponse(CamelModel):
 
 
 class PostMakeDirRequest(FilesystemRequestBase):
-    parent: Optional[bool] = Field(default=False, description="If set to `true` creates all its parent directories if they do not already exist")
+    parent: Optional[bool] = Field(
+        default=False,
+        description="If set to `true` creates all its parent directories if they do not already exist",
+    )
     model_config = {
         "json_schema_extra": {
-            "examples": [
-                {
-                    "path": "/home/user/dir/newdir",
-                    "parent": "true"
-                }
-            ]
+            "examples": [{"path": "/home/user/dir/newdir", "parent": "true"}]
         }
     }
 
@@ -152,12 +150,7 @@ class PostFileSymlinkRequest(FilesystemRequestBase):
     link_path: str = Field(..., description="Path to the new symlink")
     model_config = {
         "json_schema_extra": {
-            "examples": [
-                {
-                    "path": "/home/user/dir",
-                    "link_path": "/home/user/newlink"
-                }
-            ]
+            "examples": [{"path": "/home/user/dir", "link_path": "/home/user/newlink"}]
         }
     }
 
@@ -176,8 +169,17 @@ class PostMkdirResponse(CamelModel):
 
 class PostCompressRequest(FilesystemRequestBase):
     target_path: str = Field(..., description="Path to the compressed file")
-    match_pattern: Optional[str] = Field(default=None, description="Regex pattern to filter files to compress")
-    dereference: Optional[bool] = Field(default=False, description="If set to `true`, it follows symbolic links and archive the files they point to instead of the links themselves.")
+    match_pattern: Optional[str] = Field(
+        default=None, description="Regex pattern to filter files to compress"
+    )
+    dereference: Optional[bool] = Field(
+        default=False,
+        description="If set to `true`, it follows symbolic links and archive the files they point to instead of the links themselves.",
+    )
+    compression: Optional[TarCommand.CompressionType] = Field(
+        default="gzip",
+        description="Defines the type of compression to be used. By default gzip is used.",
+    )
     model_config = {
         "json_schema_extra": {
             "examples": [
@@ -185,7 +187,8 @@ class PostCompressRequest(FilesystemRequestBase):
                     "path": "/home/user/dir",
                     "target_path": "/home/user/file.tar.gz",
                     "match_pattern": "*./[ab].*\\.txt",
-                    "dereference": "true"
+                    "dereference": "true",
+                    "compression": "none",
                 }
             ]
         }
@@ -193,13 +196,20 @@ class PostCompressRequest(FilesystemRequestBase):
 
 
 class PostExtractRequest(FilesystemRequestBase):
-    target_path: str = Field(..., description="Path to the directory where to extract the compressed file")
+    target_path: str = Field(
+        ..., description="Path to the directory where to extract the compressed file"
+    )
+    compression: Optional[TarCommand.CompressionType] = Field(
+        default="gzip",
+        description="Defines the type of compression to be used. By default gzip is used.",
+    )
     model_config = {
         "json_schema_extra": {
             "examples": [
                 {
                     "path": "/home/user/dir/file.tar.gz",
-                    "target_path": "/home/user/dir"
+                    "target_path": "/home/user/dir",
+                    "compression": "none",
                 }
             ]
         }
diff --git a/src/firecrest/filesystem/ops/router.py b/src/firecrest/filesystem/ops/router.py
index 756f1435..9b3d36b1 100644
--- a/src/firecrest/filesystem/ops/router.py
+++ b/src/firecrest/filesystem/ops/router.py
@@ -654,8 +654,9 @@ async def post_compress(
     tar = TarCommand(
         request_model.path,
         request_model.target_path,
-        request_model.match_pattern,
-        request_model.dereference,
+        match_pattern=request_model.match_pattern,
+        dereference=request_model.dereference,
+        compression=request_model.compression,
         operation=TarCommand.Operation.compress,
     )
 
@@ -684,6 +685,7 @@ async def post_extract(
     tar = TarCommand(
         request_model.path,
         request_model.target_path,
+        compression=request_model.compression,
         operation=TarCommand.Operation.extract,
     )
 
diff --git a/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/models.py b/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/models.py
index 2d55f98f..3d7d5916 100644
--- a/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/models.py
+++ b/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/models.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 from firecrest.filesystem.models import FilesystemRequestBase
 from lib.datatransfers.s3.models import S3DataTransferOperation
 from lib.models.base_model import CamelModel
+from firecrest.filesystem.ops.commands.tar_command import TarCommand
 
 
 class PostFileUploadRequest(FilesystemRequestBase):
@@ -135,6 +136,10 @@ class CompressRequest(FilesystemRequestBase):
         default=False,
         description="If set to `true`, it follows symbolic links and archive the files they point to instead of the links themselves.",
     )
+    compression: Optional[TarCommand.CompressionType] = Field(
+        default="gzip",
+        description="Defines the type of compression to be used. By default gzip is used.",
+    )
     model_config = {
         "json_schema_extra": {
             "examples": [
@@ -144,6 +149,7 @@ class CompressRequest(FilesystemRequestBase):
                     "match_pattern": "*./[ab].*\\.txt",
                     "dereference": "true",
                     "account": "group",
+                    "compression": "none",
                 }
             ]
         }
@@ -161,6 +167,10 @@ class ExtractRequest(FilesystemRequestBase):
     account: Optional[str] = Field(
         default=None, description="Name of the account in the scheduler"
     )
+    compression: Optional[TarCommand.CompressionType] = Field(
+        default="gzip",
+        description="Defines the type of compression to be used. By default gzip is used.",
+    )
     model_config = {
         "json_schema_extra": {
             "examples": [
@@ -168,6 +178,7 @@ class ExtractRequest(FilesystemRequestBase):
                     "source_path": "/home/user/dir/file.tar.gz",
                     "target_path": "/home/user/dir",
                     "account": "group",
+                    "compression": "none",
                 }
             ]
         }
diff --git a/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/router.py b/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/router.py
index f6084d37..34eef04b 100644
--- a/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/router.py
+++ b/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/router.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
     SchedulerClientDependency,
     ServiceAvailabilityDependency,
 )
+from firecrest.filesystem.ops.commands.tar_command import TarCommand
 
 # clients
 from lib.scheduler_clients.slurm.slurm_rest_client import SlurmRestClient
@@ -397,6 +398,21 @@ async def compress(
     if request.dereference:
         options += "--dereference"
 
+    match request.compression:
+        case TarCommand.CompressionType.none:
+            compression_flag = ""
+        case TarCommand.CompressionType.gzip:
+            compression_flag = "z"
+        case TarCommand.CompressionType.bzip2:
+            compression_flag = "j"
+        case TarCommand.CompressionType.xz:
+            compression_flag = "J"
+        case _:
+            raise HTTPException(
+                status_code=status.HTTP_501_NOT_IMPLEMENTED,
+                detail="The requested compression type is not implemented.",
+            )
+
     parameters = {
         "sbatch_directives": _format_directives(
             system.datatransfer_jobs_directives, request.account
@@ -406,6 +422,7 @@ async def compress(
         "target_path": request.target_path,
         "match_pattern": request.match_pattern,
         "options": options,
+        "compression_flag": compression_flag,
     }
 
     job_script = _build_script("job_compress.sh", parameters)
@@ -459,12 +476,28 @@ async def extract(
             f"The system {system_name} has no filesystem defined as default_work_dir"
         )
 
+    match request.compression:
+        case TarCommand.CompressionType.none:
+            compression_flag = ""
+        case TarCommand.CompressionType.gzip:
+            compression_flag = "z"
+        case TarCommand.CompressionType.bzip2:
+            compression_flag = "j"
+        case TarCommand.CompressionType.xz:
+            compression_flag = "J"
+        case _:
+            raise HTTPException(
+                status_code=status.HTTP_501_NOT_IMPLEMENTED,
+                detail="The requested compression type is not implemented.",
+            )
+
     parameters = {
         "sbatch_directives": _format_directives(
             system.datatransfer_jobs_directives, request.account
         ),
         "source_path": request.path,
         "target_path": request.target_path,
+        "compression_flag": compression_flag,
     }
 
     job_script = _build_script("job_extract.sh", parameters)
diff --git a/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/scripts/job_compress.sh b/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/scripts/job_compress.sh
index e5aaa8e4..7467c2a7 100644
--- a/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/scripts/job_compress.sh
+++ b/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/scripts/job_compress.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ echo $(date -u) "Compress Files Job (id:${SLURM_JOB_ID:-${PBS_JOBID:-unknown}})"
 
 {% if match_pattern %}
 
-status=$(cd {{ source_dir }}; find . -type f -regex '{{ match_pattern }}' -print0 | tar {{ options }} -czvf '{{ target_path }}' --null --files-from - )
+status=$(cd {{ source_dir }}; find . -type f -regex '{{ match_pattern }}' -print0 | tar {{ options }} -c{{compression_flag}}vf '{{ target_path }}' --null --files-from - )
 if [[ "$?" == '0' ]]
 then
     echo $(date -u) "Files were successfully compressed."
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ fi
 
 {% else %}
 
-status=$(tar {{ options }} -czvf '{{ target_path }}' -C '{{ source_dir }}'  '{{ source_file }}')
+status=$(tar {{ options }} -c{{compression_flag}}vf '{{ target_path }}' -C '{{ source_dir }}'  '{{ source_file }}')
 if [[ "$?" == '0' ]]
 then
     echo $(date -u) "Files were successfully compressed."
diff --git a/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/scripts/job_extract.sh b/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/scripts/job_extract.sh
index 2a80ac6d..632e30e8 100644
--- a/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/scripts/job_extract.sh
+++ b/src/firecrest/filesystem/transfer/scripts/job_extract.sh
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 echo $(date -u) "Extract Files Job (id:${SLURM_JOB_ID:-${PBS_JOBID:-unknown}})"
 
-status=$(tar -xzf '{{ source_path }}' -C '{{ target_path }}')
+status=$(tar -x{{compression_flag}}f '{{ source_path }}' -C '{{ target_path }}')
 if [[ "$?" == '0' ]]
 then
     echo $(date -u) "Files were successfully extracted."