Ceps Share News (CEPS)

* ADNOC looking to find balance in strategic partners-analyst

* Deal offers low-risk, long-term supply to Eni -analyst

* Agreements are for 40 years(Adds analyst comment, changes date in dateline)

DUBAI, March 12 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi National Oil Company(ADNOC) said on Sunday it had signed 40-year agreements with Eni, awarding the Italian company a 10 percent stake in itsUmm Shaif and Nasr offshore oil concession and a 5 percent stakein Lower Zakum.

Eni has contributed a participation fee of 2.1 billiondirhams ($575 million) for the Umm Shaif and Nasr offshoreconcession and a fee of 1.1 billion dirhams for the Lower Zakumoil concession, ADNOC said in a statement.

The signing ceremony in Abu Dhabi was attended by Abu DhabiCrown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Italianpremier Paolo Gentiloni.

"The awards mark the first time an Italian energy companyhas been given concession rights in Abu Dhabi's oil and gassector," ADNOC said in the statement.

The agreements with Eni have a term of 40 years and arebackdated to March 9, 2018, ADNOC said.

"Our partnership with Eni, and other concession partners,will enable us to accelerate our growth, increase revenue andimprove integration across the upstream value chain," ADNOCChief Executive Sultan Al-Jaber said in the statement.

Last month, a consortium led by India's Oil and Natural GasCorp (ONGC), Japan's INPEX and Spain's Cepsawere all awarded stakes in different areas of the offshoreconcession.

"This is the first award by ADNOC to a major (in theoffshore renewal), and shows it is looking to find a balance inits strategic partners between companies from major buyers, suchas Japan and India, and IOCs (international oil companies) withtechnology and project delivery expertise," said Tom Quinn,senior research analyst, Middle East Upstream, Wood Mackenzie.

The ADNOC deal also provides low-risk, long-term supply toEni, and lays the foundation for the Italian company's MiddleEast portfolio, Quinn said.

ADNOC said on Sunday it was still finalising opportunitieswith potential partners for the remaining 15 percent in theLower Zakum concession and for the remaining 30 percent stake inthe Umm Shaif and Nasr concession. ADNOC will keep a 60 percentshare in both concessions.

In August, ADNOC said it would split its ADMA-OPCO offshoreconcession into three areas - Lower Zakum, Umm Shaif and Nasr,and Sateh Al Razboot and Umm Lulu - with new terms to unlockgreater value and increase opportunities for partnerships.

The existing ADMA-OPCO concession, which expired on March 8produces around 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and isprojected to have a capacity of about 1.0 million bpd by 2021.

The original shareholders in the ADMA-OPCO included BP, and Total SA.(Reporting by Rania El GamalAdditional reporting by Florence TanEditing by David Evans, Louise Heavens)