President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has welcomed the $800 million Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Ima Gas Project — a field discovered in 1973 but left undeveloped for over 50 years.
The project, located offshore in OMLs 112 and 117 and being developed by Nigerian independent AMNI International in partnership with TotalEnergies, will produce about 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day at peak.
With the FID announced on September 23, the Ima field — long identified as a major feed gas source for Nigeria LNG Limited but left dormant — will now be moved to development, ending five decades of inactivity.
According to the Presidency, Ima is the fourth major gas project to reach FID since President Tinubu assumed office, after Iseni, Ubeta and HI.
The Presidency said the successive FIDs reflect growing investor confidence and momentum in Nigeria’s gas sector following the administration’s reforms to convert vast but idle gas resources into productive projects that create jobs, revenue and economic opportunities.
President Tinubu said: “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.”
“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.”
Since assuming office, President Tinubu has prioritised reversing years of underinvestment in the oil and gas industry. While the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 laid a foundation, the Presidency noted that several projects still lacked the fiscal and commercial conditions to be viable.
This led to a series of Presidential Directives issued in 2024, developed by the team led by the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, to improve fiscal competitiveness, shorten contracting cycles and reduce costs.
Special Adviser on Energy, Ms Olu Arowolo Verheijen, said: “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.”
“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,” she added.
The Presidency also highlighted strong local content in the project. AMNI International, a Nigerian-owned E&P company, holds majority interest in the asset. Nigerian financial institutions arranged 77 percent of the project’s financing, while about 60 percent of the project workforce is expected to come from host communities including Bonny, Finima and Andoni in Rivers State.
The administration said its gas strategy goes beyond increasing production, focusing on putting gas to work for LNG exports and foreign exchange, industrial feedstock, fertiliser and petrochemical production, more reliable power supply and broader opportunities for Nigerian businesses and workers.
“Natural resources have value only when they are converted into opportunities for our people,” President Tinubu said. “Our goal is to ensure that Nigeria’s gas powers Nigerian prosperity.”