…TotalEnergies, AMNI Partner To Fund Project
The Federal Government has secured a final investment decision (FID) on the $800m Ima Gas Project, a gas discovery that remained undeveloped for several decades but has now moved towards production, with TotalEnergies and AMNI International partnering to commence the operations of the project.
The Ima Gas Project, located on Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 112 and 117 offshore near Bonny Island, Rivers State, if streamed has the capacity to produce 350 million standard cubic feet of gas per day at plateau and supply about one-third of the gas required for the Nigeria LNG Train 7 expansion.
The government described the FID announced on Wednesday as another major step in its current reforms in the hydrocarbon resources industry to transform the nation’s huge gas resources into productive assets capable of supporting industrialisation, job creation and economic growth.
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TotalEnergies, however, put its investment in the project at more than $600m.
Commenting on the investment feat, President Bola Tinubu in a statement on Wednesday, recalled that the government had signed series of presidential directives and executive orders aimed at improving the timeline for development of oil and gas projects and building investor confidence in the country.
The President clarified: “Since assuming office, I have signed a series of Presidential Directives and Executive Orders to make investment in Nigeria more competitive, reduce the cost and time required to develop projects, provide greater certainty to investors and ensure that our natural resources deliver greater value to our people.
“One of those reforms introduced specific incentives to unlock onshore and shallow-water gas projects that had remained undeveloped for years. Today, we are seeing the result. AMNI International and TotalEnergies have taken an $800 million Final Investment Decision to develop the Ima Gas Field, discovered in 1973 and left underground for more than 50 years”, he added.
Speaking at the FID signing ceremony, the Managing Director of TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria, Mathieu Bouyer, described the decision as marking a watershed in the long partnership arrangements for the development of the project between the two companies.
The industry expert enthused: “Today we mark the final investment decision for the Ima Gas development project, and it’s with a lot of emotion that I’m standing before you today because that has been a long journey, a long story, across decades now, we can say. It’s a defining moment for Ima Gas, for the partnership with AMNI International and for TotalEnergies.
“The FID confirms that technically, commercially, legally, and regulatory, we are all set and all geared to invest in a new adventure, a new project in full trust and full confidence. It’s a big project; it’s more than $600 million of investment and a clear vote of confidence in Nigeria and its oil and gas industry, and in its true confidence also in the potential of the oil and gas people of this country.
“This decision also reflects the progress made in Nigeria’s investment environment. I would particularly like to recognise the leadership of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that enabled and made it possible through a certain number of reforms, including the executive orders that were issued two years ago, and one specifically on the non-associated gas sector.
“The Nigerian content is, therefore, central to Ima, and all of the four main packages here will be handled by local Nigerian contractors, and it will be done from Nigeria by Nigerians”, Bouyer added.
“The mission is simple. It’s not only an investment in energy infrastructure. It’s an investment in Nigerian companies, Nigerian talent, and Nigerian long-term value and industrial capabilities.”
He said more than 60 per cent of the work done locally would be carried out by workers from communities around the project, while the development would also provide opportunities for employment, contracting and technical skills development.
TotalEnergies said the project had been designed as a low-emissions development, with the offshore platform powered from shore and operated without permanent offshore power generation. It will also have no routine flaring and permanent methane detection and monitoring systems.
In his remarks, the AMNI Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Tunde Afolabi, said the FID represented the fulfilment of a commitment made by both companies when they signed Heads of Terms in Houston in May 2024.
According to him, the event is much more than the signing and approval of an investment but represents the fulfilment of a commitment, confidence in Nigeria and the power of partnership.
Afolabi said the project demonstrated that Nigeria could still attract long-term capital when the right conditions are created, noting that “Capital is disciplined. Capital has choices. And major energy companies today have investment opportunities competing for funding across many parts of the world.
“Therefore, when companies take an FID in Nigeria, it sends an important signal. It says that opportunities in this country can still be identified, structured, financed and developed successfully. But we should never take that confidence for granted”, he added.
The industry expert maintained that reaching FID was only the beginning, stressing that the partners must now focus on safe execution, cost and schedule discipline, environmental responsibility, Nigerian content and engagement with host communities.
Commenting on the feat, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said the project demonstrated the impact of recent government reforms on investment decisions.
She promised that the commission would continue to remove obstacles facing investors in the upstream sector of the industry, assuring that “as the chief regulator in the industry, we will enable business. We will unclog obstacles. We might not do it overnight, but rest assured that we will do it.”
By investment holdings, TotalEnergies owns a 40 per cent equity in the project while AMNI holds the remaining 60 per cent. The field will be developed with a single offshore platform connected through a 22-kilometre pipeline to Nigeria LNG.
Industry experts believe that the project will be particularly important to Nigeria LNG’s Train 7 expansion, which is expected to raise liquefaction capacity from 22 million tonnes per annum to 30 million tonnes.
