Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and ConocoPhillips have awarded a US$300m construction contract for their Shah gas project to Al Jaber Group, Al Ittihad newspaper has reported.
The Emirati newspaper was quoted as saying the two parties would sign the final contract soon.
Local media reported last month that the joint venture was planning to award around $10 billion worth of contracts on the sour gas field in the first half of 2010.
ADNOC has said it expected to see first production from the field by late 2013 or early 2014. The project marks the first the United Arab Emirates has undertaken to exploit a sour gas field.
Al Jaber Group will build the infrastructure, including roads as well as units such as gas treatment plants, Al Ittihad reported.
The project will treat around 1 billion cubic feet of gas from Shah, and pump around 540 million cfd of processed gas into the UAE network.
