The Shah gas project which began operations this year in the UAE will achieve full production in the second quarter, earlier than expected, a top company official said.

"Initial production from the field started in January and currently we are in the process of ramping up production to full capacity, which we expect to achieve during quarter two," Saif Ahmed Al Ghafli, chief executive of Al Hosn Gas, told an industry conference in Abu Dhabi.

Al Hosn Gas is the Shah gas development joint venture in which the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) holds a 60 per cent share and US-based Occidental Petroleum the other 40 per cent.

In January the chief executive of Adnoc said the project was expected to reach full capacity by end-2015.

The multi-billion dollar project is meant to produce usable gas from Shah’s high-sulphur field. The project is expected to process around 1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfpd) of sour gas into 0.5 bcfpd of usable gas in the remote desert and is vital for keeping the UAE supplied with fuel.