President Bola Tinubu and Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara have welcomed the $800 million Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Ima Gas Development Project. The project, expected to supply about one-third of the feedstock required for Nigeria LNG’s Train 7, was signed by TotalEnergies EP Nigeria and AMNI International Petroleum Development Company Limited. Tinubu described the FID as the fourth major gas project to reach that milestone since he assumed office.
The Ima gas resource was discovered in 1973, but remained unproductive for over five decades. Developed offshore in OMLs 112 and 117, the project is expected to produce about 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day at peak. It will be connected to the existing Bonny Non-Associated Gas Plant on Bonny Island through an 18-inch, 23-kilometre multiphase pipeline, with first gas targeted for December 2028.
AMNI holds a 60 per cent interest in the asset, while TotalEnergies holds 40 per cent and remains the operator. President Tinubu said that potential alone does not create jobs, finance businesses or improve people’s lives, adding that the government’s responsibility is to create conditions that convert natural resources into productive investment.
The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, said the Ima project reflected the purpose of the government’s reforms. She noted that a discovery made in 1973 only becomes productive when capital, banks, contractors and workers are brought together to develop it. The FID is the fourth gas FID reached in two years.
Governor Fubara described the FID as a reaffirmation of investor confidence in Nigeria, its gas industry and Rivers State as the energy capital of Africa. He attributed the investment partly to improvements in security and stability along the state’s waterways. Rivers State stands to benefit from the project’s value chain, from wellhead production to job creation.
The project aligns with the state’s agenda on jobs, industrialisation and sustainable development and will also support efforts to reduce gas flaring. TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Managing Director, Mathieu Bouyer, said Ima’s output, equivalent to more than 60,000 barrels of oil, would contribute significantly to Nigeria’s energy sector.
The Ima Gas Development Project is expected to create jobs, expand exports and build lasting prosperity. President Tinubu’s administration is determined to unlock more of Nigeria’s gas resources to power industry. The project demonstrates what a competitive, predictable and enabling investment environment can achieve.
Key points
- The Ima Gas Development Project will supply about one-third of the feedstock required for Nigeria LNG’s Train 7.
- The project is expected to produce about 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day at peak.
- The FID is the fourth major gas project to reach that milestone since President Tinubu assumed office.
