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With Funsho Arogundade
Catherine Uju Ifejika, the billionaire chairman of Brittania-U Nigeria Limited, has shattered the glass ceiling in a male-dominated volatile hydrocarbon industry to achieve what many considered impossible. As the continent’s most successful female oil tycoon, Ifejika has made her mark in the industry with a blizzard of recognition. She was at a time recognised as the recipient of African Businesswoman Award and was named among 100 outstanding female executives in African oil and gas. Through resilience and hard work, the proud mother of six —married to Emmanuel Ifejika— has built capacity across exploration, production and trading.
Born in Opobo, Rivers State, Ifejika, 67, studied law at Ahmadu Bello University and spent her early career inside Texaco and then Chevron, learning contracts and regulations from the side that writes them. Brittania-U was incorporated in December 1995 and became active in 2003, starting as an oil trading business buying and selling crude and petroleum products. Ifejika joined as chief executive in 2007 and moved the company into exploration and production. Through Brittania-U Nigeria Limited, she operates an oil block, a jetty, crude export terminal and vessels for the shipping arm of the company. Brittania-U acquired 100 per cent equity interest in Ajapa marginal field after purchasing it from Chevron, which considered the field too small or difficult to develop. Brittania-U now owns and operates the field itself. The field’s reserves have been estimated at about $4.3 billion.
Latest reports show Ifejika has made a bold bet on the field one of the core oil majors walked away from. She has pumped more than $400 million into the marginal field located in OML 90/PML 90, offshore Forcados in Delta State. The move reflects Ifejika’s long-held view that mature assets deserve fresh capital, and the investments are in additional wells and a floating production, storage and offloading vessel at the asset.
