UPDATE 1-UAE's Gasco awards $9 bln gas project deals

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ABU DHABI, July 15 (Reuters) - State-owned Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd (Gasco) said on Wednesday it has awarded contracts worth a total of about $9 billion for major gas projects in the Gulf emirate.

Gasco awarded a 17.3 billion dirham ($4.7 billion) deal for the construction of a a gas processing plant to a consortium of Japan's JGC Corp (1963.T) and Italy's Maire Tecnimont (MTCM.MI), it said in a statement.

South Korea's Hyundai Engineering and Construction (000720.KS) won a $1.7 billion deal for facilities at the Habshan 5 gas complex. Gasco also awarded a $2.1 billion natural gas facility at the Ruwais plant to a consortium of Petrofac (PFC.L) and South Korea's GS Construction and Engineering (006360.KS), the statement said.

U.S. firm CB&I (CBI.N) won a contract worth $533 million for propane, butane and pentane storage facilities.

The awarded projects are expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2013, Gasco said.

Gasco is 68 percent owned by ADNOC, with the rest held by Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), Total (TOTF.PA) and Partex.

Gasco said last year it was investing $25 billion in gas processing plants and pipelines to meet surging gas demand.

Abu Dhabi holds most of the UAE's oil and gas reserves, the world's fifth-largest. (Reporting by Firouz Sedarat; Editing by Keiron Henderson)