Earthmoving equipment has begun to push aside some of the world’s highest dunes that cover the site for the $10 billion Shah Gas project.
The Shah Gas project is located 180Km south of Abu Dhabi in the Empty Quarter desert, and the dunes have to shift to allow access for the construction of the site’s plant and the sabkhas, or salt flats, that cover deposits of sour gas (hydrogen sulphide).
Sour gas is poisonous to humans and the plant is being designated as a safe zone for workers, explained David Shulte, a technical consultant to the JV partners, ADNOC and the US group Occidental Petroleum.
“Because of the dunes, we are building the main plant on three large, connected sabkhas,” said David Schulte.
The Shah Gas plant is schedule to be operational by September 2014.
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