W.L. Walker Co., Inc. was established in 1926 by William Lee Walker, co-inventor of the Tulsa Oil Thief™ (Tulsa Oil Thief Sampler).  This became the first oil sampling device of the company, and continues to be the leading oil thief sampler of choice today.  During the 1940s, numerous other types of sampling devices we added to the line, including the Lufkin Gauging Tapes and Plumb Bobs and various other products.   Listening to the needs of his customers who need oil field and petroleum testing equipment, William developed the crude oil centrifuges.  The centrifuge is used for determining basic sediment and water content in the sample.  

As World War II came to an end, Arthur "Art" Walker, returned from the military to help this father run the company.  Art began to seek new lines of equipment and develop new products in addition to the Oil Thief.  Art developed a multitude of centrifuges, including portable electronic oil centrifuges and 12V water heated centrifuges, which used water circulation from the vehicles' system in order to heat the centrifuge.  These new centrifuges would soon be able to run from 12 Volt or 115 Volt.  They were also designed as explosion proof centrifuges, which led to it being classified as a CSA Approved Explosion Proof Centrifuge.  Along these same lines, an inherently safe air driven centrifuge was developed.  All of the centrifuges that have been developed have met the specifications as stated in the API Manual of Petroleum Measurement Chapter 10.4: Determination of Sediment and Water by Centrifuge-Field Method (old ASTM D96).  Always listening to the needs of customers led to new products being incorporated into the line of products.   W.L. Walker  understood the value of plastic bottles and moved into plastic bottle production by gaining the Nalgene Labware line in the 1950s.  

After decades of maintaining the company his father founded, Art retired in 1986, and the third generation took over.  Art's daughter, Anne Walker Brackett, became the next owner of the business.  Anne is passionate about serving the industry and dedicated to the employees which it serves.  Anne has continued the development of the gauging equipment and incorporated CNC machines to ensure more efficient manufacturing.  Anne and her team developed the Mark II digital isotherm marking the advent of state-of-the-art digital thermometers.  Anne is a member of API and is a Chairman of the Chapter 7 "Temperature Determination" Working Group.   She received her 30 year award at the API Fall Meeting in 2014.

John Brackett is the fourth generation of the Walker family that will be operating the company. John and Anne are working alongside one another and the W.L. Walker employees to grow and flourish the company that has been around for nearly a century. The entire company of W.L. Walker both the Tulsa locations and branch office in Houston, TX - are all members of a large family devoted to one another and to the customers they serve.