Eni SpA (E), Italy's biggest oil and natural gas company by volumes, said Friday the large discovery it made in Venezuela with Repsol YPF SA (REP) could have a natural gas daily output of more than 1 million cubic meters.

In a statement, Eni said the discovery was made at the Perla field, in the shallow water in the Gulf of Venezuela. The field has reserves potentially higher than 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent a day, it added.

Last month, Repsol first announced the giant gas discovery.

Company Web site: http://www.eni.it

-By Liam Moloney, Dow Jones Newswires; +39 06 6976 6924; liam.moloney@dowjones.com