TotalEnergies and its Nigerian partner AMNI have taken the final investment decision on the Ima gas field, targeting a plateau of 350 million cubic feet a day, equal to more than 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, when production starts in 2028.
Field and pipeline
TotalEnergies holds 40% of Ima and operates the field; AMNI holds the remaining 60%. The field straddles the OML 112 and OML 117 licenses in shallow water near Bonny Island, off Nigeria. A single platform will produce the gas and send it through a 22-kilometer pipeline to Nigeria LNG, in which TotalEnergies holds a 15% stake. Once online, Ima is expected to supply about a third of the gas needed for Nigeria LNG's Train 7 expansion, which is raising the plant's liquefaction capacity from 22 million tons a year to 30 million tons a year.
Design and local content
TotalEnergies described Ima as a low-cost, low-emissions development. The platform design is simplified, power will come from an electric supply on shore, there will be no flaring, and the field will carry permanent methane detection and monitoring. All of Ima's key contractors are Nigerian companies, and TotalEnergies expects about 60% of the workforce during project development to come from host communities.
The operator's view
Nicolas Terraz, President Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies, called the sanction "a new milestone in the deployment of our integrated gas strategy in Nigeria." He pointed to the Ubeta project, sanctioned in 2024 and due to start up next year, and said Ima again shows the company can develop low-cost, low-emissions gas resources under incentives the Nigerian government has introduced for non-associated gas projects.
