I know that technically it is sex, and most if not all of the risks are the same or greater for oral sex. With women I consider oral sex to be sex, but with men I consider it more of foreplay. If someone asks me how many men I've had sex with, I almost always ask if they mean penetration or anything, and most often they say they only mean penetration. I do understand that it is still sex, just another kind of sex, which is why I try to always make sure it's clarified.
Edit: I don't mean to say that foreplay isn't sex also, by the way, it just seems to be a varying degree of sex to me. I mean, I also consider making out to be foreplay, but wouldn't consider that to be sex. I don't have a clear definition of what is sex and what isn't sex, which is another reason if someone is asking me specific questions, I try to clarify.