UAE's Shah gas project due online in early 2015

The United Arab Emirates' Shah gas project is not expected to be operational until early next year, the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) said on Monday.

Abu Dhabi energy officials have previously said the tricky project to produce usable gas from Shah's high-sulphur gas field would be completed in late 2014.

But Adnoc Chief Executive Abdulla Nasser Al Suwaidi said the multi-billion dollar project with US-based Occidental Petroleum was likely to come onstream next year.

"There is normal progress, the start up and coming time for such a plant takes time... We are sticking to target of early 2015," he said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

The technically challenging project to process around 1 billion cubic feet a day (bcf/d) of sour gas into 0.5 bcf/d of usable gas in the remote desert is vital to temper the UAE's growing gas imports.

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