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Nigeria Unlocks 53-Year-Old Ima Gas Field With $800m

Pulse & Culture • September 23, 2026 • 19 Views
  • $800 million investment: AMNI International and TotalEnergies finalized funding to develop the long-dormant offshore Ima Gas Field.
  • Production timeline: Commercial extraction is scheduled to begin in 2028, targeting a peak output of 350 million cubic feet of gas daily.
  • Strategic supply: The extracted gas will directly support the expansion of the Nigeria LNG Train 7 project to meet rising energy demands.

Nigeria is finally moving to develop the Ima Gas Field. Discovered in 1973, the offshore resource has sat undeveloped for more than five decades.

President Bola Tinubu welcomed an $800 million Final Investment Decision on Wednesday. AMNI International and TotalEnergies finalized the funding to bring the asset online.

Offshore Potential and Output

The asset spans offshore blocks OML 112 and OML 117. Peak production is projected to reach roughly 350 million cubic feet of gas per day.

TotalEnergies confirmed that commercial extraction will commence in 2028. Output will feed the Nigeria LNG facility, bolstering the expansion of its Train 7 project.

What drove the recent $800 million investment in the Ima Gas Field?

Rising domestic energy demands and strategic plans to expand Nigeria LNG Train 7 directly prompted AMNI International and TotalEnergies to finalize the $800 million investment, turning a long-dormant 1973 offshore asset into a viable commercial gas producer.

While industry stakeholders celebrate the capital injection, local communities await tangible economic benefits. Success hinges entirely on meeting the strict 2028 operational deadline set for the facility.

AMNI International Petroleum Development Company stands as a homegrown titan in the African energy sector. Founded decades ago as an indigenous independent operator, the firm carved out a unique space in a market traditionally dominated by Western multinational giants. Operating offshore fields required immense technical grit and local regulatory mastery.

Unlike many joint ventures that relied entirely on foreign expertise, AMNI positioned itself from inception to champion local capacity building. The company secured major oil mining leases in the Niger Delta, quietly establishing a reputation for taking over mature or dormant assets and successfully squeezing out new production value.

Pioneering Indigenous Offshore Operations

TotalEnergies, the multinational partner on the Ima Gas project, brings a massive global footprint spanning over a century of petroleum extraction. Yet, the collaboration highlights a distinct shift toward empowering regional independents who possess deep contextual knowledge of Nigeria’s complex maritime environments.

By 2024, AMNI had spent over twenty years steadily expanding its operational portfolio across West Africa without the disruptive boom-and-bust cycles that plagued smaller startups, culminating in its enduring status by December 31, 2024.

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Dike Praise (Journalist) Dike Praise is a journalist specializing in news coverage, research, and storytelling, with a focus on Nigerian and West African perspectives. Sh...