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MILAN, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Italy's Eni has reachedits second agreement in less than a week to explore oil and gasfields in Egypt, as efforts by Cairo to pay foreign oil majorsdebt attracts investors.
In a statement on Wednesday, Eni said it had signedconcession agreements to explore two new blocks in the EgyptianMediterranean, strengthening its position in a country it viewsas strategic.
Last Friday Eni said it had signed an agreement to operatethe South-West Melehia block in the westerndesert.
"It looks to me like Eni might have reached some kind ofdeal to get acreage in return for debt which I last heard wasaround 800 million euros," an oil analyst said, asking not to benamed.
Egypt recently paid $2.1 billion of debt to foreign energycompanies in a move aimed at improving the investment climateand easing its worst energy crisis in decades.
The country, which has turned from being an energy exporterto a net importer due to increasing consumption and decreasingproduction, has delayed payments to oil and gas firms to tackleeconomic woes triggered by instability after the ousting ofHosni Mubarak.
Eni said its two new Egyptian blocks, North Leil andKarawan, were both located in the deepwater Mediterraneanoffshore, west of the Shorouk block which Eni acquired lastyear.
The Italian state-controlled major owns all of North Leiland 50 percent of Karawan where it partners with BP.
Eni, the biggest foreign oil major in Africa in terms ofvolumes, has been present in Egypt since 1954 and producesaround 210,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; editing by Agnieszka Flak)
