UAE-based Dana Gas has completed the construction of its offshore Zora gas field development project two years after awarding the main contracts.

The company finished the construction in 2015 and is now transporting gas through the subsea pipeline to the new gas processing facility in Hamriyah Free Zone, Sharjah.

Production started in January and process optimisation is underway, Dana Gas said in its annual financial results announcement.

The offshore field is expected to produce 40 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) and will be sold for power generation in Sharjah. It will also be a cleaner replacement for some of the current feedstock for power generation that includes diesel fuel.

The scheme is a significant development for the northern emirates of the UAE, which are eclipsed by their larger neighbour Abu Dhabi in terms of oil and gas production.

Ajman and Sharjah signed an agreement in 2012 covering the shared management of the field, gas sales and purchase agreements and a joint operating agreement with the two emirates.

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for the three main packages were awarded to US-based Exterran, Abu Dhabi’s National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) and Adyard Abu Dhabi.

Dana Gas made a net profit of $134m in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with a loss of $4m in the same period of 2014, as it received a delayed payment to its operations in Iraqi Kurdistan.