53 Years Underground: How Nigeria’s $800m Ima Gas Project Could Rewrite the Gas Story
By Matthew Eloyi
For more than half a century, a significant gas resource lay beneath Nigeria’s waters, known to the industry but largely absent from the country’s economic life.
Discovered in 1973, the Ima gas resource remained undeveloped for 53 years, surviving changes in governments, oil prices, investment cycles and successive attempts to unlock Nigeria’s vast gas potential.
That long wait may now be coming to an end.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has welcomed the $800 million Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Ima Gas Project, describing it as another major step in the Federal Government’s effort to transform Nigeria’s abundant gas resources into investment, industrial capacity, jobs and economic growth.
Developed by Nigerian independent energy company AMNI International, in partnership with TotalEnergies, the project is expected to produce approximately 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day at peak production.
The development is significant not merely because of its financial value, but because of what it represents: the movement of a resource that spent more than five decades underground into the centre of Nigeria’s industrial and economic ambitions.
The Ima discovery is located offshore in Oil Mining Leases 112 and 117. Despite its substantial reserves and potential to supply feed gas to Nigeria LNG Limited, the resource remained largely untapped for decades.
The latest investment decision therefore marks a transition from discovery to development—and potentially from dormant reserves to economic activity.
For Nigeria, the challenge has never been a lack of natural gas.
The country possesses enormous gas reserves, yet translating those reserves into reliable energy, industrial feedstock, export earnings and employment has proved difficult. Infrastructure constraints, financing challenges, regulatory uncertainty and lengthy project timelines have historically slowed investment in the sector.
The Ima FID comes against the backdrop of the Tinubu administration’s efforts to change that equation.
Since assuming office, the administration has pursued reforms intended to make Nigeria’s oil and gas sector more attractive to investors. In 2024, the President issued a series of Presidential Directives aimed at improving fiscal competitiveness, accelerating contracting processes and reducing project costs.
The administration sees these measures as necessary to move the industry away from a cycle in which valuable discoveries remain undeveloped for years.
Tinubu said the Ima development demonstrated the impact of creating a more predictable and competitive investment 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 lives,” the President said.
“Our responsibility has been to create the conditions that turn Nigeria’s natural resources into productive investments and economic opportunities.”
The Ima project is the fourth major gas project to reach FID since Tinubu took office, following the Iseni, Ubeta and HI projects.
Together, the developments point to an administration seeking to use investment decisions as a measure of whether reforms are translating into actual activity in the energy sector.
Perhaps one of the more notable features of the Ima project is the level of Nigerian participation in its ownership and financing.
AMNI International, a Nigerian-owned exploration and production company, holds a majority interest in the project. Nigerian financial institutions have also arranged 77 per cent of the project’s financing.
That financial structure is significant in an industry where major upstream projects have traditionally depended heavily on international capital.
The participation of domestic financial institutions could signal a growing appetite within Nigeria’s financial sector to fund large-scale energy infrastructure, while Nigerian ownership gives the project a stronger local dimension.
The project is also expected to have a substantial employment impact in the communities where it operates. About 60 per cent of its workforce is expected to come from host communities.
The host communities include Bonny, Finima and Andoni in Rivers State, areas with long histories of interaction with Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
For these communities, the success of the project will be measured not only by production figures but also by jobs, contracts, infrastructure and the extent to which economic benefits reach local residents.
The broader importance of Ima extends beyond the gas field itself.
Nigeria has increasingly positioned natural gas as a bridge to industrial growth and a critical component of its energy strategy. Gas can provide feedstock for fertiliser and petrochemical industries, fuel power generation and support LNG exports.
The Ima project is expected to contribute to these areas, potentially strengthening the connection between upstream gas production and downstream economic activity.
Its anticipated production of about 300 million standard cubic feet per day could therefore become part of a wider effort to increase domestic gas availability while supporting Nigeria’s position in the international LNG market.
The logic behind the government’s gas strategy is straightforward: producing more gas has limited economic value if the resource cannot be transported, processed, financed and consumed.
That is why the FID is only the beginning.
The real test will be whether the investment progresses from decision to construction and ultimately to sustained production.
Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, said the project illustrated the central objective of the government’s reforms: moving Nigeria’s resources from beneath the ground into productive projects.
“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, and Nigerians work on it,” she said.
That observation captures the significance of Ima.
The 1973 discovery itself did not create jobs. The gas reserves did not automatically generate government revenue, power industries or support exports. It required decades of technological development, capital mobilisation, commercial agreements and policy changes before the resource could approach development.
The $800 million commitment consequently represents more than an investment figure. It is an indication of the economic value that can emerge when previously undeveloped resources are matched with capital and a workable investment framework.
Tinubu has pledged that his administration will continue to pursue the development of Nigeria’s gas resources to support industries, expand exports, create employment and promote sustainable economic growth.
The Ima project fits squarely into that ambition.
Yet its eventual impact will depend on execution. Nigeria’s history is filled with discoveries and projects that promised substantial economic benefits but were delayed by financing, regulatory, infrastructure or commercial challenges.
The difference this time will be determined by whether the FID translates into timely construction, production and reliable delivery of gas to its intended markets.
If successfully developed, Ima could provide feedstock for LNG exports, fertiliser and petrochemical production, industrial users and power generation, while creating employment and business opportunities in its host communities.
It could also demonstrate the potential of greater Nigerian ownership and domestic financing in large-scale energy projects.
For a country that discovered the resource in 1973, the significance of Ima is therefore not simply that Nigeria has found another gas project to invest in.
It is that a resource that spent 53 years beneath the ground may finally begin working above it, powering industries, supporting exports, financing businesses and creating opportunities for Nigerians.
As Tinubu put it, “Natural resources have value only when they are converted into opportunities for our people.”
The ultimate measure of the Ima project will be whether those words become a reality.
And after more than five decades of waiting, the countdown has begun.
