French energy company TotalEnergies is considering a $750m (N1.25trn) gas project in Nigeria to boost LNG supplies, reported Bloomberg.  

The project, set to be sanctioned next year, follows a $500m investment in the Ubeta onshore field, a joint venture with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company.  

Speaking at a France-Nigeria business forum in Paris, TotalEnergies senior vice-president Africa, exploration and production Mike Sangster stated: “We have another dry gas project called Ima, which we hope to sanction next year for about $750m.”  

The project will be developed with a local partner. 

Since May 2023, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has sought to address challenges in the oil and gas sector, signing two executive orders to enhance efficiency.  

Nigeria aims to attract $10bn in deep-water gas exploration investments through tax breaks and new policy measures. 

According to Sangster: “There is still more to be done in terms of regulation, simplifying, accelerating the process, but we have appreciated some of the changes that have been made over the past year.”  

He added that the Nigerian authorities “have given us now the incentive or the motivation to go ahead and renew our investments in Nigeria so that we can stop the decline and start to increase production”. 

Sangster urged further relaxation in local content rules to encourage international contractors in deep-water projects. 

The Ubeta field is set to start production in 2027, with the gas to be supplied to the Nigeria LNG plant in Bonny Island. 

Located in the OML 58 onshore licence, the Ubeta gas condensate field will feature a new six-well cluster connected to existing facilities via an 11km pipeline.  

It is expected to achieve a plateau production capacity of 300 million cubic feet per day, equivalent to 70,000 barrels of oil per day, including condensates.  

TotalEnergies holds a 15% stake in the Nigeria LNG plant.