Italy's oil and gas major Eni has won an international tender to operate block 35 in deepwater offshore Angola as it pushes to expand on its core African market and boost deepwater development.

Eni said in a statement on Wednesday it will control operations and have a 30 percent interest in the project.

Other partners of the joint venture are Angola's Sonangol with a 45 percent stake and Spain's Repsol with 25 percent.

The deal involves drilling two wells and conducting 3D seismic surveys on a 2,500 square km area, which will be carried out in the first five years of exploration, Eni said.

Block 35 is in deepwater offshore Angola, 150 km off the coast of Luanda, and covers 4,831 square km of potential pre-salt mining acreage.

BP and Total were among other international majors awarded concessions to explore in Angola's ultra-deep water blocks known as pre-salt blocks, Angola's state-owned oil firm Sonangol said on Monday.

Eni said its operatorship of the project would allow it to leverage its deepwater experience gained through participation in the adjacent Blocks 15 and 14, where it holds a 20 percent interest, and in Block 15/06 where Eni successfully completed the first exploration campaign in recent weeks.

Eni has been in Angola since 1980 and its equity output is about 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

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