Nigeria’s Ima Gas Field Sat Underground for 53 Years. A Nigerian Company Will Own 60% When It Finally Produces.

An offshore gas field discovered in 1973 is finally moving toward production. With a Nigerian company holding majority ownership and domestic banks arranging most of the financing.

The deal raises a larger question: Who captures the wealth from Africa’s natural resources?

Nigeria discovered the Ima gas field in 1973. For more than five decades, it remained undeveloped, leaving a potentially valuable energy resource beneath the ocean while the country continued seeking investment in its gas industry.

That is now changing.

On September 23, 2026, French energy company TotalEnergies and Nigerian-owned AMNI International announced a final investment decision to develop the offshore field, with production expected to begin in 2028.

According to Nigeria’s presidency, the project involves an $800 million investment decision, with Nigerian financial institutions arranging approximately 77% of its financing.

The development represents more than another energy project. It offers an example of how African countries can participate in the economics of their natural resources through ownership, domestic financing, contracting and employment.

When African resources finally reach global markets, how much of the economic value remains in African hands?

A gas discovery from 1973 finally moves toward production

The Ima gas field sits in shallow offshore waters near Bonny Island, across Nigeria’s OML 112 and OML 117 petroleum licenses.

Under the development plan announced by TotalEnergies, the project will use a single offshore platform connected to the Nigeria LNG facility through a 22-kilometer pipeline.

TotalEnergies expects production to begin in 2028 and eventually reach approximately 350 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

That would supply about one-third of the gas required for Nigeria LNG’s Train 7 expansion, which is designed to increase the plant’s annual production capacity from 22 million to 30 million tonnes.

For Nigeria, the project creates an opportunity to convert a resource discovered 53 years ago into commercial production, government revenue, business activity and export earnings.

But the volume of gas produced is only one measure of its economic importance.

Equally important is who owns the asset, who finances its development, who controls operations and who participates in the resulting income.

A Nigerian company owns the majority. A French company controls operations.

AMNI International’s 60% stake gives a Nigerian-owned company the majority economic interest in the Ima development. TotalEnergies holds the remaining 40% and serves as the project operator.

That distinction matters because ownership and operational control are not the same thing.

Equity ownership determines how investors participate in a project’s financial returns, subject to its costs, financing obligations, taxes and contractual arrangements.

Operatorship involves responsibility for executing the development, managing technical operations, coordinating contractors and overseeing production.

In this arrangement, AMNI has the larger equity position, while TotalEnergies brings its international operating capabilities to the project.

The Nigerian company stands to participate in the majority of the project-level equity economics, but that does not mean it will receive 60% of gross gas revenue or control every operational decision.

The partnership illustrates a broader challenge for African resource industries: building domestic ownership while also developing the technical and institutional capabilities needed to operate increasingly complex assets.

The long-term economic opportunity extends beyond acquiring equity. It includes expanding the ability of African companies to finance, engineer, manage and eventually operate more of the continent’s strategic infrastructure.

Nigerian banks are financing most of the project

Ownership is only one part of the Ima development’s economic structure.

Nigeria’s presidency reports that Nigerian financial institutions arranged approximately 77% of the project’s financing.

That adds another dimension to local participation.

Instead of domestic institutions participating only as suppliers or service providers, Nigerian financial institutions are helping mobilize the capital required to bring the resource into production.

They may earn interest and financing fees while building experience financing major domestic energy infrastructure. At the same time, they carry credit and repayment exposure associated with the development.

The government describes the project as an $800 million investment decision. TotalEnergies’ September 23 corporate announcement does not specify a total development cost, while some Nigerian industry reporting has cited approximately $600 million.

The presidency’s $800 million figure therefore represents the government’s description of the investment rather than a universally reported project cost.

Regardless of the final capital expenditure, the financing structure introduces an important economic distinction: Nigerian participation is present not only in the gas itself, but also in the equity and financing supporting its development.

Nigerian contractors and host communities have a stake

The project’s potential economic impact also extends to procurement and employment.

TotalEnergies says all key contractors for the Ima development are Nigerian companies. It also expects approximately 60% of the development workforce to come from host communities.

Nigeria’s presidency identifies Bonny, Finima and Andoni in Rivers State among the communities expected to participate.

For domestic businesses, large infrastructure projects can generate opportunities in engineering, construction, transportation, logistics, fabrication, maintenance and specialized services.

Those contracts can support business revenue, employment and technical experience that may be useful in future projects.

But local participation at the construction stage is different from building lasting economic capacity.

The longer-term benefits will depend on whether Nigerian firms can strengthen their capabilities, win subsequent contracts and participate in higher-value activities after initial construction ends.

For host communities, employment is similarly important but not the only consideration.

Environmental protection, access to economic opportunities, community development and the durability of jobs after construction will also shape the project’s local impact.

TotalEnergies describes Ima as a lower-emissions gas development, with electricity supplied from shore, no planned flaring and permanent methane monitoring. Those design commitments will ultimately need to be measured against the project’s actual environmental performance.

Who captures the upside?

The Ima development creates several potential channels of economic value.

AMNI can benefit from its majority equity stake. TotalEnergies can benefit from its 40% interest and its role as operator. Nigerian lenders can earn financing income, while domestic contractors can generate business revenue.

Nigeria may receive taxes, royalties and foreign-exchange earnings associated with gas production and exports, subject to applicable fiscal arrangements.

Nigeria LNG will gain another source of feedgas to support its expansion.

The project therefore connects upstream gas development to financial institutions, domestic supply chains, employment and international energy markets.

However, each of those channels distributes value differently.

A contractor may receive revenue during construction. A worker receives compensation for employment. A lender earns financing income while carrying credit exposure. An equity investor participates in the longer-term residual returns and risks of the asset.

Those differences explain why majority ownership is an important part of the Ima story.

For African economies, greater participation in the ownership and financing of productive assets creates opportunities to capture forms of income that extend beyond wages and short-term procurement contracts.

Nigeria must also balance exports with domestic industrial needs

The Ima field is being developed to supply Nigeria LNG, making it part of the country’s international gas export infrastructure.

Additional LNG production can support export revenue and foreign-exchange earnings. But Nigeria also needs reliable energy and gas feedstock for domestic electricity generation, fertilizer production, petrochemicals and other industrial activities.

The presidency has identified both domestic industrial development and LNG exports as priorities in its gas strategy.

That creates an important question about how the country allocates its natural resources.

Gas exported as LNG can generate foreign earnings. Gas supplied to domestic industries can support manufacturing, agricultural inputs, electricity generation and employment.

The two uses are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Their economic benefits depend on prices, infrastructure, contractual obligations, available supply and domestic demand.

The Ima project’s contribution to LNG expansion is defined. Its wider contribution to Nigerian industrial development will depend partly on how the country develops and allocates its broader gas resources.

What this means for African ownership

The significance of Ima extends beyond Nigeria.

Across Africa, major resource discoveries often generate debate about how much economic participation remains with domestic companies, institutions and communities.

The Ima partnership offers a case in which a Nigerian company holds majority equity, domestic financial institutions have arranged most of the financing, Nigerian companies hold key contracts and host communities are expected to supply much of the development workforce.

Those commitments create several potential pathways for retaining economic value.

They are not, however, a guarantee of broad-based prosperity.

The eventual returns will depend on production, costs, financing terms, commercial arrangements, environmental performance and the opportunities that reach local businesses and workers.

For Black communities across the diaspora, the larger significance is the distinction between participating in economic activity and owning the assets that generate it.

Employment creates income. Contracts create business revenue. Lending creates financing income. Equity ownership creates a claim on longer-term business returns.

The Ima project brings those forms of participation together within a major African energy development.

After 53 years underground, Nigeria’s Ima gas field is moving toward production.

The next chapter will reveal not only how much gas reaches the market, but how much lasting economic value its development creates for Nigerian companies, financial institutions, workers and communities.

The bigger question is not simply who extracts Africa’s resources. It is who owns, finances and controls the businesses that turn those resources into wealth.