KIEV, July 25 - Italian energy group Eni S.p.a. is opening a representative office in Ukraine to search for natural gas, the State Geological and Subsoil Service said in a statement.

The statement quoted the service's head, Eduard Stavytsky, that Eni's main priority in Ukraine is to develop deposits in the country's western areas and Poltava region.

"The Italian company specializes in exploration and production in shallow water and transition zones. Eni produces from eight to nine billion cubic meters of natural gas. Similar geographical characteristics are found in the shallow-water regions of the Azov and Black Seas," he said.