Nigeria’s push to turn its vast gas reserves into new production capacity has taken another step forward with the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Ima Gas Development, an offshore project that will be connected directly to the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) complex through a new 22-kilometre pipeline.
TotalEnergies and its Nigerian partner, AMNI International, reached FID on September 23 for the development of the Ima field, which straddles the OML 112 and OML 117 licences in shallow waters close to Bonny Island. The project is expected to begin production in 2028 and reach a plateau of 350 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d). NNPC puts the investment at about $800 million, making it one of the significant recent commitments to Nigeria’s upstream gas sector.
What makes Ima particularly important is where its gas is going. Rather than requiring a long-distance transmission network to reach a new market, the field will be connected directly to NLNG through the 22-km pipeline, creating a relatively short link between offshore production and one of Nigeria’s most important gas-processing and export facilities. TotalEnergies estimates that Ima’s output will provide about one-third of the gas required for NLNG’s Train 7 expansion.
A Short Pipeline With a Much Larger Purpose
The 22-km connection may be modest compared with Nigeria’s major transmission projects such as the 614-km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline, but its strategic importance lies in what it connects. Ima is being developed specifically as a gas supply project for NLNG, giving the new production a defined destination before the field even reaches first gas.
That makes the project part of a wider effort to solve one of Nigeria’s longstanding gas-sector problems: having substantial resources underground without enough reliable infrastructure and investment to bring those resources into productive use.
NLNG’s Train 7 expansion is central to that effort. The project is designed to increase the Bonny Island complex’s LNG production capacity by 35%, from 22 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 30 mtpa. NLNG says construction of Train 7 is already more than 80% complete.
Ima therefore arrives at a critical point in the expansion. More liquefaction capacity is useful only if sufficient gas can be delivered to feed it. The new offshore field and its pipeline connection provide part of that additional supply, with the 350 MMcf/d plateau expected to support the larger operation when production begins in 2028.
The financing structure also gives the project a broader Nigerian dimension. TotalEnergies says the development is being financed by a consortium of seven banks, with Nigerian financial institutions providing more than 70% of the financing. Four major construction packages are expected to be executed by Nigerian contractors, while around 60% of the development workforce is expected to come from host communities.
From Offshore Gas to Nigeria’s LNG Growth
The Ima project is significant because it links three parts of Nigeria’s gas ambition that have often struggled to move at the same pace: upstream production, midstream connectivity and LNG export capacity.
Its development also comes as Nigeria tries to increase domestic and export gas production. Recent investments in projects such as Ima, alongside other sanctioned gas developments, suggest that the industry is moving towards developments where gas has a clear commercial route to market rather than simply relying on future demand to justify production.
For TotalEnergies and AMNI, Ima provides a relatively focused offshore development with a defined offtake route. For NLNG, it adds another source of feedgas as Train 7 moves towards completion. And for Nigeria, the project demonstrates the value of connecting new upstream gas directly to existing infrastructure capable of converting that resource into an exportable product.
The pipeline itself may only stretch 22 kilometres, but its significance extends much further. If Ima reaches its expected production levels in 2028, the project will help strengthen the gas supply foundation beneath Nigeria’s expanded LNG capacity and reinforce Bonny Island’s role at the centre of the country’s gas economy.
The bigger question now is whether projects like Ima can become part of a sustained pipeline of gas developments capable of keeping Nigeria’s growing LNG and domestic gas infrastructure adequately supplied. With Train 7 designed to add eight million tonnes per year of LNG capacity, the answer will depend increasingly on whether Nigeria can continue bringing new gas production online alongside the infrastructure needed to move it.
Author