Eni SpA Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni told president, John Atta-Mills, at a meeting Tuesday that his country is destined to become one of the main oil-producing countries in sub-Saharan Africa thanks to recent offshore discoveries.

Eni ia an Italian multinational oil and gas company, present in 70 countries, and currently Italy's largest industrial company

Scaroni said Eni, Italy's largest oil and gas company, wants to build "a new and durable partnership" with Ghana.

Eni has had a presence in sub-Saharan Africa since the 1960s and is an operator in the main oil-producing countries such as Angola, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, Gabon and Mozambique.

"Eni's production in the region amounts to about 450,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day," the company said.