What’s remarkable about Extreme’s success is that it’s the result of finding a solution to a problem the oil patch has been trying to figure out for 50 years. That magic combination of pure researchers working with the practical SAIT-trained gang has allowed the company to create the next generation of real-time telemetry, effectively putting eyes and ears into the end of a drill bit thousands of feet below the surface, punishing the sensors with incredibly adverse conditions, and providing an accurate wireless feed back to the surface. And the acoustic telemetry isn’t their only successful gambit. Along the way they’ve become the only company in the world to offer electro-magnetic and mud-pulse telemetry systems. In the latter case, reducing the human resources required to run the technology by 95%. Whereas a company once needed two people topside working with the mud-pulse equipment at any given moment, Extreme’s technology allows seven people to run 50 sites by remote. Derek loves the fact that the technological advances have helped stabilise an industry that is cyclical. As a 25-year oil-patch veteran, he’s seen the boom-bust cycle a couple of times and knows that if a lean drilling company can operate effectively with a small workforce during the peak years, it doesn’t have to lay off its people in difficult times, and will better survive the downturn. He figures that’s as important an impact on the Alberta economy as the exceptional quality of the high-tech products Extreme has so successfully marketed over the last half-dozen years. 

Of course, he’s not blind to the fact that the technology itself is a great source of pride for everyone involved. He points out if you can develop technology that is applicable in the Canadian oil basin, it can be used anywhere else in the world. You have to be practical developing concepts here because margins are far tighter than they are in more traditional extraction areas. “If you can make it here, you’ll make it anywhere,” he laughs. In effect, he and his partners have created a company that can have a significant impact internationally, further cementing Alberta’s reputation around the world as a leader in oil extraction technology.
It’s not really surprising that Derek Logan ended up as president of a successful engineering firm. He’s always loved tinkering, going all the way back to when his dad would bring home old beaters they’d fix up together. It’s a tradition he continued with his own sons, Aaron and Justin. Six years ago, when the boys were 15 and 12, respectively, the three of them rebuilt a 1952 Chevy pickup. Now electric blue and equipped with all kinds of cool extras, the truck has won prizes and is the family’s pride and joy—at least, it will be until they complete their next project, a 1965 Cobra “replicar” that they hope to have on the road next year. In the meantime, he and Glenna, who just celebrated their 25th anniversary with a cycling trip at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, are watching their kids with pride, enjoying the fact that Justin has just joined his brother at Queen’s University’s School of Mechanical Engineering. It seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. And what an apple. Derek’s come a long way from his days as an industrial tire-man in Saskatchewan’s coal mines. Then again, perhaps he’s not all that far removed from those mines. Now he makes his living on the far side of drill. We’re glad he is and look forward to watching the continued success we know will characterise Extreme Engineering Inc. of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.