Abu Dhabi has formally signed the $1bn contract to develop gas processing facilities at Das Island with South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries.

The deal, which is part of the wider integrated gas development to transfer 1 billion cubic feet a day of high pressure gas from the offshore Umm Shaif field to new onshore processing facilities, was originally awarded in July (MEED 16:7:2009).

However, Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company (Adgas), the client on the project, only signed the contract with Hyundai on 28 December.

Hyundai’s processing facilities are due for completion in late 2012. The gas produced at the Umm Shaif field will be processed on Das Island before being passed on to a major underwater pipeline linking the island with the mainland. The gas will be further processed and distributed at the onshore Ruwais and Habshan gas production facilities.

The development is one of the biggest projects undertaken in the Middle East in 2009, and is valued at more than $10bn. It is one of a series of megaprojects being undertaken by state energy giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) to boost its oil and gas production by 2020.