$600m Ima gas project targets NLNG Train-7 supply

Tanya Davidson

Port Harcourt — The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, has welcomed the Final Investment Decision, FID, on the $600 million Ima Gas Development Project, which is expected to supply about one-third of the feed gas required for Nigeria LNG’s Train 7 expansion.

The FID was announced yesterday by TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited and its indigenous partner, AMNI International Petroleum Development Company Limited, at an event in Abuja.

NUPRC Chief Executive, Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said the investment demonstrated what sustained policy direction and committed industry partners could achieve in Nigeria’s upstream sector.

“Today’s success is attributable to His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu. Years ago we could not have conceived that today we will be sitting here to celebrate a project if he hadn’t given the executive orders,” he said.

Eyesan said the regulator would continue to remove obstacles to investment and create an enabling environment for upstream developments.

“As the Chief Regulator in the industry, we will enable business, we will unplug obstacles. The President has set the path for us, and we are determined to follow through,” she said.

The Ima field, discovered in 1973, is located in the shallow water offshore Rivers State and straddles OML112 and OML1178. AMNI holds a 60 per cent interest in the project, while TotalEnergies, which operates the field, holds 40 per cent.

At plateau, the development is projected to produce about 350 million standard cubic feet of dry gas per day, with first gas targeted for the end of 2028.

TotalEnergies Managing Director, Mathieu Bouyer, described the investment of more than $600 million as a vote of confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

He disclosed that seven Nigerian financial institutions, including Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa, UBA, are providing about 77 per cent of the project financing, highlighting the growing role of domestic capital in funding upstream developments.

Bouyer said the project could generate between $2 billion and $4 billion in value over its lifetime, depending on international market prices.

The Ima development is expected to strengthen domestic gas supply and support the feed-gas requirements of the NLNG Train 7 expansion, while also deepening indigenous participation in Nigeria’s upstream gas industry.