President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has welcomed the $800 million Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Ima Gas Project, describing it as another milestone in efforts to unlock Nigeria’s gas resources for industrial development, job creation and economic growth.
The project, developed by Nigerian independent energy company AMNI International in partnership with TotalEnergies, is expected to produce about 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day at peak.
The Ima gas resource, located offshore in Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 112 and 117, was discovered in 1973 but remained undeveloped for more than five decades.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the FID announced on September 23 marks a significant step towards bringing the long-standing gas resource into production.
The project is also expected to provide feedgas for Nigeria LNG Limited, while supporting wider economic activities linked to the country’s gas sector.
The Ima project becomes the fourth major gas project to reach FID since Tinubu assumed office, following the Iseni, Ubeta and HI projects.
Tinubu said the development demonstrated the potential of reforms aimed at creating a more competitive and predictable investment environment in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
“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. Our responsibility has been to create the conditions that turn Nigeria’s natural resources into productive investments and economic opportunities,” he said.
“The Final Investment Decision on Ima demonstrates what is possible when we provide investors with a competitive, predictable and enabling environment. We are determined to unlock more of Nigeria’s gas resources to power our industries, expand our exports, create jobs and build lasting prosperity for our people.”
The President’s administration has pursued reforms aimed at addressing years of underinvestment in the oil and gas industry.
Although the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 provided a regulatory framework for the sector, several projects remained undeveloped due to fiscal and commercial constraints.
In 2024, Tinubu issued a series of Presidential Directives designed to improve fiscal competitiveness, reduce contracting timelines and lower project costs.
The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Arowolo Verheijen, said the Ima project reflected the objective of those reforms.
“The story of Ima is ultimately the story of what our reforms are designed to achieve. Nigeria has never lacked resources. The challenge has been creating the commercial and investment conditions required to move those resources from beneath the ground into projects that employ Nigerians, create opportunities for Nigerian businesses, generate revenues and support economic growth,” Verheijen said.
“A gas discovery made in 1973 can only contribute to prosperity when somebody invests the capital to develop it, banks finance it, contractors build it, Nigerians work on it, and the gas is ultimately put to productive use. That is the transition we are seeing today.”
The project also highlights the growing participation of Nigerian companies in the upstream oil and gas industry, with AMNI International, a Nigerian-owned exploration and production company, holding a majority interest in the asset.
Nigerian financial institutions have arranged 77 per cent of the project’s financing, while about 60 per cent of the workforce is expected to be drawn from host communities, including Bonny, Finima and Andoni in Rivers State.
The Federal Government said the project forms part of a broader strategy to increase the productive use of Nigeria’s substantial gas reserves.
The strategy includes expanding LNG exports and foreign exchange earnings, providing gas feedstock for industries, supporting fertiliser and petrochemical production, improving power supply and creating opportunities for Nigerian businesses and workers.
“Natural resources have value only when they are converted into opportunities for our people,” Tinubu said. “Our goal is to ensure that Nigeria’s gas powers Nigerian prosperity.”
