Eni awarded operatorship of Block 35 in deepwater offshore Angola

San Donato Milanese (Milan), 26 January 2011 - Eni announces today that it has been awarded participation and operatorship of Block 35 by the Angolan Juri for the bid round, composed of representatives from the Ministry of Petroleum, Sonangol and the Ministry of Finance. The block is located in deepwater offshore Angola, 150 km off the coast of Luanda. Block 35 covers 4.831 square km of potential pre-salt mining acreage.

Eni’s election is the outcome of a competitive international tender, providing Eni with control of the operation and a 30% interest, whereas the other partners of the joint venture are Sonangol Pesquisa  & Producao 45% and Repsol 25%. The deal involves the drilling of 2 wells and conducting 3D seismic surveys on a 2,500 square km area, which will be carried out in the first 5 years of exploration.

This award, as proposed by Juri, and subject to the Angolan Minister of Petroleum’s decision on any appeal of the Juri’s proposal, represents a further step for Eni in strengthening its presence in Angola and reinforces its commitment to deepwater developments. The technological complexity of these frontier projects requires specific skills and expertise which are key factors in the company’s success.

Eni’s operatorship of the project also allows it to leverage its deepwater experience, gained through its participation in the adjacent Blocks 15 and 14, where it holds a 20% interest and in Block 15/06 where the company successfully completed the first exploration campaign in recent weeks.

Eni has been present in Angola since 1980. Its current equity production is approximately 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. This operation further strengthens Eni’s presence in the country and confirms Angola as one of the core countries in Eni's organic production growth strategy.