TotalEnergies, AMNI Take FID on Nigeria’s Ima Gas Field to Feed LNG Train 7

TotalEnergies and its Nigerian partner AMNI International Petroleum Development Company took the final investment decision on the Ima gas field on September 23, 2026, unlocking a new offshore gas project designed to feed Nigeria LNG’s ongoing Train 7 expansion. The field, sitting in shallow water off Bonny Island across licenses OML 112 and OML 117, will be developed with a single platform tied back through a 22-kilometer pipeline to the Nigeria LNG plant, TotalEnergies said in its FID announcement.

TotalEnergies holds 40% of the project and operates it; AMNI, a privately held Nigerian independent, holds the remaining 60%. TotalEnergies separately holds a 15% stake in Nigeria LNG itself. The company’s investment amount for the FID was not disclosed in its own press release; several Nigerian outlets, including ThisDay and Vanguard, have reported figures of $800 million and $600 million respectively for the project, an inconsistency The Daily Energy could not resolve against TotalEnergies’ own materials and is flagging rather than adopting either figure as confirmed.

Feeding an LNG Expansion Already Under Construction

Nigeria LNG’s Train 7 project, under construction on Bonny Island, is designed to lift the plant’s liquefaction capacity from 22 million tonnes per annum to 30 Mtpa — a roughly 35% increase once complete. TotalEnergies said Ima gas will supply about one-third of the additional feed gas Train 7 needs, positioning the field as a direct enabler of Nigeria’s push to grow LNG export volumes rather than a standalone development.

“We are very pleased to announce the FID for the Ima gas project, marking a new milestone in our integrated gas strategy in Nigeria,” said Nicolas Terraz, TotalEnergies’ President of Exploration & Production, in the company’s announcement.

Production Scale and Timing

TotalEnergies said Ima is expected to reach a plateau production rate of 350 million cubic feet of gas per day, equivalent to more than 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with first output targeted for 2028. That is a two-year construction and development window from FID to start-up, in line with typical timelines for shallow-water tieback gas projects of this size in the Niger Delta.

The project follows TotalEnergies’ 2024 sanction of the Ubeta gas project, also part of the company’s Nigerian gas portfolio and expected online in 2027. Between Ubeta and Ima, TotalEnergies is building a sequence of feed-gas projects timed to arrive as Train 7 nears completion, rather than sanctioning them all at once — a phased approach that spreads capital spending across several fiscal years.

Context: Nigeria’s Gas Monetization Push

Nigeria holds Africa’s largest proven natural gas reserves, but a large share of that resource has historically been flared, reinjected or left undeveloped because of insufficient pipeline and processing infrastructure connecting fields to export terminals. The federal government has spent much of the past several years pushing international and indigenous operators toward “decade of gas” commitments intended to convert more of that reserve base into LNG export revenue and domestic gas-to-power supply. Ima’s structure — an indigenous partner (AMNI) holding the majority stake alongside an international major providing technical operatorship — reflects a pattern Nigeria’s regulators have favored in recent licensing rounds, aimed at increasing local ownership of upstream gas assets while retaining major-company operating expertise.

Sources

• TotalEnergies, “Nigeria: TotalEnergies launches the Ima Gas Development to Supply Nigeria LNG liquefaction plant,” press release, September 23, 2026 — ownership stakes, field location, plateau rate, start-up date, Train 7 capacity figures, executive quote.
• World Oil, “TotalEnergies takes FID on Ima gas field offshore Nigeria,” September 23, 2026 — independent confirmation of FID and project scope.
• ThisDayLive and Vanguard, September 24, 2026 — Nigerian press estimates of investment value ($800 million and $600 million respectively; unconfirmed by TotalEnergies).

Related The Daily Energy Coverage

• What Is OPEC? Members, History and How It Sets Oil Policy — Nigeria’s role as an OPEC member and its production quota context.
• What Is LNG and How Does It Work? — background on liquefaction trains and how feed gas projects like Ima connect to export capacity.

Illustrative image. Photo: VileGecko, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source