ABU DHABI - Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) said on Saturday it awarded a consortium formed by Italy's Eni and Thailand's PTTEP  two offshore exploration blocks.

Eni will be the operator of the blocks, holding together with PTTEP a 100 percent stake in the exploration phase, it said in a statement.

The two companies will invest at least $230 million in the exploration phase and ADNOC has the option to hold 60 percent in the production phase, if a commercial discovery is made, it said.

(Reporting by Rania El Gamal and Mahal by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Kim Coghill) ((maher.chmaytelli@thomsonreuters.com;))