Shearman & Sterling has advised Abu Dhabi National Oil Company on its joint venture with ConocoPhillips to develop the Shah gas field in the south of the United Arab Emirates, together with a natural gas processing plant, new natural gas, liquid and sulphur pipelines.

Under the joint venture agreement, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company will own a 60% interest in the development, and ConocoPhillips will own a 40% interest.

The Shah field is expected to produce a total of 1 billion cubic feet of raw gas a day. The field will also produce 10,000 tonnes of sulphur a day, which is likely to be transported through a heated pipeline to the processing facilities.

The final agreement came exactly a year after the two firms signed a preliminary deal to develop the field.

The Shah deal is the first major project Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has opened to foreign firms since 2006.

The Shearman & Sterling team was led by project finance partner Mathew Kidwell in the firm's Abu Dhabi office. The team also included project finance and development partner Philip Dundas  and associates Chris Chapman, Joanne Chapman and Zina Al-Askari.