Shale Activity Fuels Uptick at Bolt Construction

POLAND, Ohio – Bolt Construction Inc. is taking in 11 loads of 42-inch pipe over the next few days to be cut apart and welded into prefabricated sections for field installation in the oil and gas industry.

Demand is “very high” now, reports Todd Miller, vice president. Bidding activity for work is higher during the fourth quarter of 2017 than the company has seen since 2014, he said.

This year, Miller estimated, business should be up 50% over 2016, and he projected that activity should continue. Bolt supplies pipe for oil and gas customers through the Utica and Marcellus shale plays.

Earlier this year, Bolt reported that energy companies were accelerating their drilling programs in the shale plays in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

A few months ago, so many projects were approved requiring pipe within a short period of time that Bolt had to turn down some of the work, he said. The company has 120 employees, including about 20 at the fabrication shop in Poland.

The shipment Bolt is processing now is for a single customer, he said. He also expressed optimism that activity should remain high into 2018 and beyond.

“Right now there have been several articles coming out forecasting through 2020. Work is very strong,” Miller said.

Bolt Construction specializes in the construction of airport fueling systems, gas compressor stations, gathering systems and bulk storage petroleum piping.

Pictured at top: A shipment of pipe is delivered to Bolt Construction’s fabrication shop at 10422 South Ave. in Poland.

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