Thanks for the info. I had just got the info from someone in Abu Dhabi.
It seems maximum age at hiring is 60 and retire 65, or work at overseas operations for longer than that.
Some professions can work to an older age and some individuals specifically can be sponsored to older age. It depends on the profession, and the sponsor's 'status'.
The work I had applied for suited my needs as it was a move onto types I have maintained in the past and ones I wanted to work on. The agency said the company contracted for the work answered swiftly, that at the great age of 60 I would be too old to consider.
I had to admit I was having a job convincing my wife a drop in pay of US$20 thousand a year and loss of two months holiday was a good career move.
Here in the swamps of PNG I spend nothing in my month on site, then a month off. Maybe in Dubai, with two months on site, it would have been easier to have spent money.