Nigeria’s long-awaited Ima Gas Project has reached a major development milestone after investors took the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the $800 million offshore gas project, more than five decades after the resource was discovered.
The project, being developed by Nigerian independent oil and gas company AMNI International in partnership with TotalEnergies, is expected to deliver approximately 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day at peak production.
Located offshore across OMLs 112 and 117, the Ima gas discovery dates back to 1973, but remained undeveloped for over 50 years, leaving its significant gas reserves largely untapped.
The Federal Government said the FID marks the fourth major gas project to reach the investment decision stage since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office, following the Iseni, Ubeta and HI gas projects.
According to a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the Ima project reflects the government’s efforts to create conditions capable of attracting investment into Nigeria’s gas sector.
President Tinubu said the project demonstrated what could be achieved when investors operate within a predictable and competitive environment.
“For more than fifty years, the gas beneath Ima remained a resource with enormous potential, but potential alone does not create jobs, finance businesses or improve the lives of our people,” Tinubu said.
He added that the administration would continue working to unlock more of Nigeria’s gas resources for industrial development, exports, employment and economic growth.
The Presidential Special Adviser on Energy, Olu Verheijen, attributed the development to reforms aimed at improving fiscal competitiveness, reducing project costs and shortening contracting timelines in the oil and gas industry.
She described the Ima project as an example of how Nigeria’s natural resources could be transformed into productive investments when the necessary commercial conditions were created.
The project is also expected to deepen indigenous participation in Nigeria’s upstream sector, with AMNI International holding a majority interest in the asset.
The Federal Government disclosed that Nigerian financial institutions arranged 77 per cent of the project’s financing, while approximately 60 per cent of the project workforce is expected to be drawn from host communities, including Bonny, Finima and Andoni in Rivers State.
The government said the development could also strengthen the supply of gas for domestic industries and potentially support LNG exports, fertiliser and petrochemical production, power generation and other gas-based businesses.
The Ima FID therefore represents a significant step toward bringing a gas resource discovered in 1973 into commercial production, while positioning Nigeria’s vast gas reserves as a source of investment, employment and industrial development.
