Nigeria and the French firm TotalEnergies announced Wednesday a deal to invest $800 million in an offshore natural gas field to advance the country’s hydrocarbon ambitions.
Since his election in 2023 President Bola Tinubu has promised to boost Nigeria’s oil and gas production, which despite extensive reserves had fallen to under one millions barrels of oil per day.
Output had risen to 1.6 million barrels per day by August — still far short of the government’s goal of two million barrels by 2027 — and gas production has also been increasing.
“Our responsibility has been to create the conditions that turn Nigeria’s natural resources into productive investments and economic opportunities,” Tinubu said in a statement.
TotalEnergies has a 40 percent stake in the Ima gas field around 20 kilometres (12 miles) offshore from the liquefied natural gas terminal at Port Harcourt on the Niger Delta.
Nigeria’s privately owned ANMI owns the remaining 60 percent in the field, which was discovered around 50 years ago but has never been tapped.
“Production start-up is expected in 2028, with a plateau of 350 million cubic feet per day (representing over 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day),” TotalEnergies said in a statement.
“We are determined to unlock more of Nigeria’s gas resources to power our industries, expand our exports, create jobs and build lasting prosperity for our people,” Tinubu said.
