Nigeria's Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has urged oil and gas companies to shorten the period required to reach Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) on projects. Speaking at the FID signing ceremony for the $800m Ima Gas Project in Abuja, Lokpobiri emphasized that Nigeria needs to move more quickly from discoveries to actual production. The Ima project, jointly developed by AMNI International and TotalEnergies, is expected to commence production in 2028.
The Ima Gas Project, located on OMLs 112 and 117 offshore near Bonny Island, Rivers State, was discovered in 1973 but has only now reached the development stage. TotalEnergies operates the project with a 40 per cent interest and expects the field to reach a plateau of 350 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. The project will supply about one-third of the gas required for the ongoing Nigeria LNG Train 7 expansion. Lokpobiri attributed the improvement in investment activity to reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu's administration.
Lokpobiri cited the lack of clarity in the previous regulatory environment as a major obstacle to attracting investments. He noted that TotalEnergies' global chief executive had previously mentioned that Nigeria's unclear regulatory and fiscal environment was a reason for the country's lack of investment for over 10 years. The current administration's reforms aim to provide greater fiscal and regulatory certainty, which has helped to boost investor confidence.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) also emphasized the importance of Nigerian banks in financing new projects, particularly as international investors reassess energy investments. He encouraged domestic financial institutions to continue supporting the sector, arguing that oil and gas will remain crucial to the global energy mix for the next 50 to 100 years. Lokpobiri's call for faster investment decisions is aimed at accelerating the conversion of Nigeria's oil and gas resources into productive assets.
The Ima FID has been hailed as a vote of confidence in Nigeria's gas sector by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo. He described the project's significance in the context of the Government's Decade of Gas initiative, which aims to use natural gas to support power generation, manufacturing, and other sectors. Ekpo expressed confidence that the project will contribute to the President's target of 12 Billion Cubic Feet of gas per day by 2030.
Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, noted that the significance of the Ima development goes beyond the volume of gas expected from the field. She emphasized the importance of creating conditions that allow natural resources to be converted into investment, production, jobs, and higher incomes. Verheijen highlighted that the project illustrates the impact of the current administration's policies in attracting investments and creating economic opportunities.
The Ima project is designed with environmental considerations in mind, including power supplied from shore, no flaring, and permanent methane monitoring. About 60 per cent of the workforce during development is expected to come from host communities. TotalEnergies said the project would be developed through a single offshore platform connected by a 22-kilometre pipeline to Nigeria LNG.
Key points
- The Ima Gas Project is expected to commence production in 2028 and reach a plateau of 350 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.
