Not really true
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings.jsp
however, many companies offer housing as part of their packages.
Besides food and utilities you're pocketing all the money you earn.
http://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/comparison/mountain...
Granted, I can drive a SUV at 1.00QR per litre. at 90 octane gasoline, that is basically 20-30 US cents a litre. However, inflation is a dirty word. Last inflation bump came because gov't sector pentions for Qatari citizens were close to doubled, and almost all grocer products increased by at least 1QR (0.20-0.30 USD) overnight. Many went up a lot more. And people were upset, but that is top-down economics.
The salary I can imagine for an American engineer working in Abu Dhabi would be a minimum of 100,000 - 180,000+ USD , and it is tax free (usually comes with additional benefits).
Abu Dhabi is a rich city (they got oil) and they usually pay more than Dubai.
Source: I live here, and run a startup and work with multiple companies and consultants.
Although I imagine for Americans this will be more difficult now with FACTA laws.