Company History
The Beginnings
The story of Packers Plus begins with three men who shared very similar pasts. Dan Themig, Ken Paltzat and Peter Krabben had spent their careers working for large service companies. All three had been in the industry for nearly 20 years and they were ready to create a dynamic, new organization.
In January 2000, Dan, Ken and Peter set out to start a small company with a focus that would allow them to be the best at what they did. They opened the first Packers Plus office in Calgary along with a 6,000 square foot Manufacturing Center in Edmonton.
That Calgary office is now corporate headquarters for a company with offices across Canada, the U.S. and overseas, and that 6,000 square foot bay in Edmonton has grown into two state-of-the-art Manufacturing Centers and is also home to one of two Rapid Tool Development facilities that specialize in engineering, R&D and testing – the other being located in Houston, Texas.
StackFRAC
During its first year of operation, Packers Plus began to establish itself as an innovative and high-performing company, focusing on solving problems for operators in the U.S. and Canada. The company quickly racked up an impressive list of accomplishments working closely with clients and focusing on markets that were mostly ignored by the larger service companies. It was because of this success that in 2001, Dan Themig was presented with the opportunity to come up with a solution that would help an operator increase production in horizontal wells requiring fracturing. During the flight to Texas, Dan came up with seven different ideas, one of which the customer loved. It was during this meeting that the StackFRAC® system was born and within weeks StackFRAC was designed, prototyped and in the field.
Success in the United States
Word of the new StackFRAC technology spread quickly through the U.S. and in 2003, Packers Plus opened its first U.S. service center in Midland, Texas. At this time, there was a growing acceptance of new technology in the oil and gas market so, as the industry saw the successes of the StackFRAC system, the applications grew. Packers Plus soon introduced other technical innovations including its RapidMATRIX® system for acid stimulation.
The company grew quickly in the U.S. and over the following years, several more locations opened across the nation including the U.S. Corporate Office, Technology Center and Rapid Tool Development facility, all located in Houston, Texas. Today, Packers Plus operates 11 district and sales locations across the U.S.
Success in Canada
Although Packers Plus operated from five locations in Canada, the Canadian industry did not immediately embrace horizontal drilling in tight formations. Packers Plus had to work extremely hard to get the StackFRAC system its big break. This came at the end of 2006 when two oil and gas companies evaluated the StackFRAC system for what was then the emerging Bakken play in southeast Saskatchewan. StackFRAC ended up being the right technological application at the right time and it proved to be the key to developing the Bakken formation.
Today, Canada is home to seven Packers Plus locations including its corporate head office in Calgary, its Rapid Tool Development and Manufacturing Centers in Edmonton, and three services centers throughout Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Success Internationally
Because of the reputation gained through innovation and performance, Packers Plus began to supply products and technology to areas outside of North America shortly after the company started including the Middle East and Asia. Then, near the end of 2005, Packers Plus partnered with Schlumberger to provide several key technologies that would fundamentally change drilling practices in the international market. The StackFRAC system began being distributed as StageFRAC* internationally and is still sold under this name today.
Packers Plus Today
Today, Packers Plus is an organization that has stayed true to its roots – an innovative company with a focused niche, allowing us to be the best at what we do.
In 2009, Packers Plus was names Oilweek’s Supplier of the Year and was awarded the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for both the Prairies Region and Canada. Our systems and tools continue to produce “best in field” results in a wide variety of formations and Packers Plus is known as having designed and developed the industry-leading technology for multi-stage fracturing.
Packers Plus started with a vision to be a company that operated in key markets throughout the world – a vision that through hard work and perseverance has been realized.
- Dan Themig interviewed by CBC Radio Calgary (mp3)
- Packers Plus in running to be E&Y 2010 World Entrepreneur of the Year
- Ernst and Young - Entrepreneur Of The Year - Canada Video Introduction (video below)
Our company continues to produce "best-in-field" results in tight rock and shale gas formations and we continue to provide value to our customers in tight rock. Packers Plus is known for having designed and developed the industry-leading technology for multi-stage fracturing. For more on how we can help you with your reservoir, please visit our Products page.