Nigeria signs $800 million offshore gas project with TotalEnergies

TotalEnergies holds a 40% stake in the Ima gas field, about 12 miles offshore from the liquefied natural gas terminal at Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta.(AFP) — Nigeria and French energy company TotalEnergies announced a deal Wednesday to invest $800 million in an offshore natural gas field, advancing the country’s oil and gas ambitions.Since his election in 2023, President Bola Tinubu has promised to boost Nigeria’s oil and gas production. Despite the country’s extensive reserves, oil output had fallen below 1 million barrels a day.Output had risen to 1.6 million barrels a day by August, still well short of the government’s goal of 2 million barrels a day by 2027. Gas production has also increased.“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 holds a 40% stake in the Ima gas field, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) offshore from the liquefied natural gas terminal at Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta.Privately owned Nigerian company ANMI holds the remaining 60% stake in the field, which was discovered about 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.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads