Pipeline Contractors

Pipeline crews work on bid schedules, and the equipment has to be in place before the project starts. A contractor who cannot field a Cat 587T pipelayer or a Volvo PL4809D sideboom because the financing is still in underwriting does not win the next bid. We finance pipeline construction equipment for contractors who build gathering lines, transmission lines, and midstream infrastructure in oil and gas producing regions across the country.

The pipeline segment involves some of the most capital-intensive specialized equipment in the oilfield. Pipelayers, sidebooms, large excavators for trench work, horizontal directional drills, pipe bending machines, welding rigs, and all the support equipment that keeps a spread moving, it adds up to several million dollars for a full pipeline spread. Even a smaller contractor building gathering lines in a shale play needs a couple of sidebooms, an excavator, and a welding rig just to field a minimal crew. That is $1.5 million to $3 million in iron before you add support equipment.

We finance individual pieces or full packages for pipeline contractors. Our minimum is $50,000 per transaction, and we regularly handle deals from $150,000 on a single used pipelayer up through multi-unit packages for contractors expanding their spread count. New equipment, used equipment, and refinancing of existing notes are all in scope. B and C credit profiles are considered. Funding closes in about field-ticket review after a completed application.

Pipeline Construction Equipment We Finance

Pipeline contractors carry a distinctive equipment list that differs from general excavation or utility contractors. We know this equipment and work with lenders who assign appropriate collateral values to it, which matters when you are financing a specialized piece of iron that a general commercial lender might undervalue.

• Pipelayers: Cat PL83, Cat PL87, Cat 587T, Volvo PL4809D, and Komatsu D155C sidebooms
• Production and power units for mainline trench work, including Cat 336 and Komatsu PC490 class machines
• Horizontal directional drills for road crossings, river crossings, and congested right-of-way
• Pipe bending machines for field-bends on mainline steel pipe
• Welding rigs: truck-mounted generator welding rigs and crawler-type internal welding tractors
• Side-boom cranes and boom trucks for pipe stringing and lowering-in operations
• Trenching and backfill equipment

Pipelayers are the most specialized and most liquid piece of pipeline equipment in the secondary market, which makes them strong collateral. A well-maintained Cat 587T, the largest pipelayer Cat builds, holds its value well because demand from contractors and rental companies is consistent. Lenders understand this, and loan-to-value ratios on pipelayers are generally favorable compared to other categories of heavy equipment.

How Pipeline Equipment Financing Works

The process starts with the application. You give us the equipment list (year, make, model, serial number, condition), your business information, and we match the package to available equipment finance programs who actively finance pipeline construction equipment. For packages up to roughly $400,000, short-form approval is available with no financials required.

For larger transactions, which are common in pipeline work, we add recent operating statements and recent tax returns. The underwriting looks at your contract revenue, the equipment's market value, and your existing debt structure. Pipeline contractors with active contracts, particularly those with midstream operators or E&P companies, present well to lenders because the revenue stream is identifiable.

Deal structures in pipeline financing include standard equipment loans (you own the machine from day one), operating leases (off-balance-sheet treatment, turn the machine in or buy at fair market at end of term), and TRAC leases (common for titled trucks and support vehicles). TRAC leases are particularly useful for the pickup trucks, lowboys, and service vehicles that support a pipeline crew but are not the primary capital equipment.

We also handle cash-out refinances on pipelayers and excavators that are paid off or have significant equity. If you have a pipelayer carrying no note, that machine's equity can be converted to cash for working capital, a down payment on additional equipment, or fuel and payroll during a large project. The cash lands in your account and the machine stays in your yard working.

Pipeline Work Across Producing Basins

Pipeline construction demand in oil and gas regions runs on a slightly different cycle than drilling and completions. When a play develops and production grows, gathering and midstream infrastructure has to be built, sometimes years into a play's development. The Permian has seen sustained pipeline construction activity as operators build out gas gathering infrastructure to address flaring and move crude to export terminals on the Gulf Coast. The Marcellus-Utica corridor has also driven substantial pipeline construction as producers connect to interstate takeaway capacity.

Contractors based in active pipeline corridors, particularly those in the Houston area who serve Permian and Gulf Coast midstream projects, or contractors operating in the Pittsburgh corridor serving Appalachian gathering and transmission work, see consistent project flow when the production environment is supportive. Having the right equipment in the yard before the bid season opens is what separates contractors who win the work from those who bid but cannot start on schedule.

Pipeline construction also overlaps with related oilfield industries. Contractors who build gathering lines often also handle oilfield construction work such as tank battery installation, road construction, and pad preparation. We finance all of those asset types and can handle the full scope of a diversified oilfield construction contractor's equipment needs.