By Bassey Asuquo
The Tinubu Stakeholders Forum (TSF) has described the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the $800 million Ima Gas Project as further evidence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s comprehensive reform of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry and his efforts to unlock investment in a sector that has historically been the lifeblood of the Nigerian economy.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Ahmad Sajoh and Secretary Danjuma Sada, the group said the latest FID is particularly significant because the gas resource was discovered in 1973 but remained undeveloped for more than five decades.
The Forum noted that Ima is the fourth major gas proj
ect to reach FID under the Tinubu administration, following the Iseni, Ubeta and HI projects.
It said: “These developments demonstrate that Nigeria’s gas resources are increasingly moving from stranded assets to bankable projects capable of attracting capital, creating jobs and supporting industrial growth.
“But the project, being developed by AMNI International in partnership with TotalEnergies, is expected to produce about 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day at peak.
“This and the other FIDs are the result of deliberate reforms aimed at improving fiscal competitiveness, reducing project costs, streamlining contracting and approval processes, and providing greater certainty for investors.”
The Forum also pointed to President Tinubu’s new deep-offshore investment framework, which is designed to replace project-by-project negotiations with a transparent, rules-based system and unlock up to US$50 billion in new investment.
TSF said the emerging investment momentum will have implications far beyond crude oil and gas production. Increased gas supply can support power generation, fertiliser and petrochemical production, LNG exports and other energy-intensive industries, while new projects will create opportunities for Nigerian banks, contractors, engineers, service companies and workers.
“The significance of these developments is that Nigeria is beginning to convert resources that remained dormant for decades into actual investment, production, jobs and economic value,” TSF said.
The Forum said President Tinubu’s reforms demonstrate that rebuilding Nigeria’s oil and gas industry requires more than increasing production targets. It requires a competitive investment environment, predictable fiscal terms, efficient regulation and policies that encourage capital to flow into long-term projects.
TSF urged investors and Nigerian businesses to take advantage of the emerging opportunities across the gas and wider energy value chain, saying sustained investment will strengthen energy security, expand domestic industrial capacity, increase government revenues and support broader economic growth.
The Forum said the four gas FIDs and the new deep-offshore framework provide clear evidence of an oil and gas sector undergoing structural reform, with Nigeria’s vast petroleum resources increasingly being positioned as engines of investment, industrialisation and economic development.