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By Nerijus Adomaitis
OSLO, July 2 (Reuters) - Italy's Eni increased itsNorwegian presence with a view to extracting more offshore oilon Monday by merging its subsidiary there with privately-ownedPoint Resources, in the sector's latest round of consolidation.
The new company, named Vaar Energi and led by PointResources' Vice President Kristin F. Kragseth, will be one ofthe largest players on the Norwegian continental shelf with aportfolio of 17 producing oil and gas fields.
Recent deals include Point Resources buying Exxon Mobil-operated assets off Norway last year, and BPmerging its Norwegian business with Norway's Det norske in anall-share deal in 2016, creating Aker BP.
But while BP became a minority shareholder in Aker BP, Eniwill own 69.6 percent of its newly merged operation, withprivate equity investor HitecVision owning the remainder.
The new company will have a daily output of around 180,000barrels of oil equivalents (boe), Eni said in a statement.
"This is a fundamental step ahead in our strategy toreinforce Eni's presence in OECD countries with further upstreampotential, such as Norway," Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi added.
Mediobanca oil analyst Alessandro Pozzi said the move gaveEni "critical mass" in Norway and helped reduce risk in itsportfolio.
Vaar Energi plans to invest more than 65 billion Norwegiancrowns ($7.9 billion) over the next five years to develop newresources, which could help to boost daily output to 250,000 boeby 2023, Eni said.
Vaar Energi's combined reserves and resources total morethan 1.3 billion barrels boe, it added.
The merger is expected to be completed by the end of 2018,pending regulatory approvals.($1 = 8.1841 Norwegian crowns)(Additional reporting by Stephen Jewkes in Milan, editing byGwladys Fouche and Alexander Smith)
