Abu Dhabi is now commissioning its $11bn Shah sour gas development after five years of construction, according to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) director-general Abdulla Nasser al-Suwaidi.

The project is being developed by Al-Hosn Gas, a joint venture of Adnoc and US-based Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) to produce 500 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas.

“Al-Hosn Gas is commissioning now at Shah, the largest sour gas field in the region,” Al-Suwaidi said at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec) in the emirate on 10 November. The project is likely to start production in early 2015.

The director-general also said the emirate plans to complete the expansion of its Integrated Gas Development (IGD) scheme by 2019.

“We increased gas pipeline network capacity from offshore to onshore by 1 billion cf/d in 2013, with work in progress to reach 1.6 billion cf/d by 2019,” he said.

Abu Dhabi Gas Industries(Gasco) is currently assessing engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) bids for the IGD expansion’s main packages.

Al-Suwaidi said the fall in international oil prices since June would not affect Abu Dhabi’s plans to deliver schemes. “In the case of Adnoc, all committed projects are in progress,” he said.