UPDATE 1-Eni says it made a significant gas find off Sicily

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MILAN, July 22 (Reuters) - Italy's oil and gas major Eni has made a significant gas discovery off the coast of Sicily, with estimated reserves of around 16 billion cubic metres, as it aims to boost domestic output, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Eni (ENI.MI), which operates the Cassiopea field with a 60 percent stake, said first tests had shown production of around 190,000 cubic metres a day of gas and it expected higher output during the normal life of the field.

"This discovery confirms the high potential of the Sicilian Strait deep offshore area, where the neighbouring Panda and Argo fields are also located," the statement said.

Italy depends on gas imports to cover about 85 percent of its energy needs and Eni has recently been pushing to ease Italian authorities' reluctance to allow companies to boost the exploration and development of domestic reserves.

Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni said on Monday he estimated Eni's gas concession in Adriatic waters to hold at least 40 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas and maybe as much as 100 bcm.

Italian power producer Edison (EDN.MI) holds the remaining 40 percent of the Cassiopea field, located at a water depth of some 560 metres, about 22 km off the coast of Agrigento in southern Sicily.

Eni gets a major part of its oil and gas output from abroad. Among many projects around the world, it jointly leads a group developing the huge Karachaganak oil and gas field in Kazakhstan with 1,350 bcm of gas reserves. (Reporting by Svetlana Kovalyova and Jo Winterbottom)