The Federal Government has challenged oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria to accelerate investment decisions and shorten the lengthy period between petroleum discoveries and actual development as the country seeks to raise production and unlock stranded resources.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, made the call at the Final Investment Decision signing ceremony for the $800 million Ima Gas Project, being jointly developed by TotalEnergies and Nigerian independent AMNI International.
The project is moving towards development more than five decades after the gas field was discovered in 1973, highlighting the long delays that can occur between resource discovery and commercial production.
Lokpobiri said companies should work towards reaching Final Investment Decisions within shorter periods, arguing that faster project development would strengthen Nigeria’s petroleum industry.
$800m Project Targets 2028 Production
The Ima Gas Project is located on OMLs 112 and 117 offshore near Bonny Island in Rivers State.
Production is expected to begin in 2028, with the project targeting a plateau of approximately 350 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.
TotalEnergies operates the development with a 40 per cent interest.
The project is particularly important because its output is expected to supply approximately one-third of the gas required for the ongoing Nigeria LNG Train 7 expansion.
That creates a direct link between new upstream gas production and Nigeria’s effort to expand its LNG export capacity.
FG Wants Discoveries Converted Into Production
The Ima project’s history illustrates one of the longstanding challenges confronting Nigeria’s petroleum industry.
The resource was discovered in 1973 but is only now moving into full development following the investment decision.
While large oil and gas projects require extensive technical studies, financing arrangements, regulatory approvals and commercial agreements, the government believes reducing unnecessary delays could accelerate production and investment.
Lokpobiri told industry operators that shortening the period required to reach FID would be beneficial to the sector.
The minister also urged Nigerian financial institutions to continue providing capital to the petroleum industry.
Financing remains critical because upstream developments frequently require hundreds of millions or billions of dollars before production begins.
Gas Investment Gains Momentum
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, described the Ima investment decision as a demonstration of confidence in Nigeria’s gas industry.
The development fits into the government’s broader strategy of increasing the commercial utilisation of Nigeria’s large natural gas resources.
Rather than concentrating exclusively on crude oil exports, Abuja wants additional gas production to support LNG exports, electricity generation and industrial activity.
The Federal Government has also been pushing regulatory and fiscal reforms aimed at making petroleum projects more commercially attractive.
The Ministry of Petroleum Resources says Nigeria has recorded increased drilling activity and renewed upstream investment following reforms implemented under the Petroleum Industry Act and subsequent government measures.
Investment Critical to Production Target
For Nigeria, attracting Final Investment Decisions is critical because existing fields naturally decline over time.
New projects must therefore enter production not only to increase national output but also to replace declining production from mature assets.
The Ima project adds to a growing pipeline of petroleum investments that the government hopes will expand domestic production capacity.
However, the more important test will be whether recent investment decisions translate into projects delivered according to schedule and whether additional discoveries can move through the development process more quickly.
With first production from Ima targeted for 2028, the $800 million development will provide another measure of Nigeria’s ability to convert its large hydrocarbon resources into commercially producing assets while expanding the gas supply needed for LNG and other domestic uses.
