For the duo of Abdulrazaq Isa and Danjuma Saleh, the journey on the boulevard of fame and success began close to three decades ago. At that time, they were both prodded by the desire to leave their imprints on the sands of time. Consequently, they conceptualised Walter Smith and Associates. When the company was birthed, little did they know that it would someday grow to become one of the most successful oil exploration companies in Africa.
Obviously, they were on a rollercoaster ride, as the company eventually merged with a Canadian company, Petroman Oil in Calgary, Canada, thereby becoming Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited that same year.
In 2003, the new company eventually won the bid for a marginal oil field known as Ibigwe OML 16; and five years later, it commenced production and export of crude oil.
Relentless, these ambitious partners invested huge sums of money to drill additional oil wells in the Ohaji-Egbema area of Imo State in 2011.
But sadly, there was a tragic twist to their hitherto enchanting stories. While drilling the second oil well known as Ibigwe-2, a blowout occurred that resulted in a huge fire outbreak that lasted for two months. For them, it was a most unnerving development, as initial efforts to put out the fire were unsuccessful. Not a few imagined the closure of the company after they recorded a huge loss. But God intervened and turned their sorrow inside out. So, like a phoenix, the company surprisingly rose from its ashes.
By 2013, Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited raised $180 million to drill five wells and Commissioned a 15,000 barrels-per-day-capacity flow station to expand its 20,000-barrel capacity crude storage tank operations.
To date, the company has produced more than five million barrels of crude oil and several million cubic feet of associated gas. A few months ago, the World Economic Forum (WEF) announced the selection of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited as a member of the Forum’s Global Growth Companies (GGC). This indicates the rising profile of both Isa and Saleh who are not resting on their oars.
Recently, the company hosted the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, who had a tour of the company’s modular refinery in Ohaji-Egbema, Imo state.
Isa stated that Waltersmith would ramp up the capacity of its modular from 5000 bpd to 60,000 bpd so as to cope with the increasing demand for its products. He said this would be completed by the first quarter of 2025. He highlighted further that the refinery is efficiently managed, and its products are in demand nationwide.
