UPDATE 1-Nigeria's Oando buys stake in offshore oil blocks

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LAGOS Jan 12 (Reuters) - Nigerian energy firm Oando Plc UNIP.LG (OAOJ.J) said on Monday it had bought a 15 percent stake in two deep water oil blocks off the coast of Nigeria for $197 million from Italian company Agip (ENI.MI).

It said one of the blocks, OML-125, was currently producing 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from its Abo field, and was expected to double that output this year. The second block, OML-134, is still in the exploration phase.

"This is a significant milestone for Oando as we officially join the league of companies with interests in deep offshore producing assets," Oando Chief Executive Wale Tinubu said.

"This acquisition will contribute to our strategic target of 100,000 bpd by 2012, as we continue to explore opportunities to build a robust portfolio of oil and gas properties," he said.

Oando, which sells or distributes one in every five litres of petroleum products in Africa's most populous nation, has been expanding aggressively with upstream investments.

The company, listed on the Lagos and Johannesburg stock exchanges, announced last week that it had acquired 75 percent of Toronto-based Exile Resources' (ERI.V) 40 percent working interest in the Akepo offshore oilfield.

It said that agreement meant that it would end up with a 30 percent equity stake in the entire Akepo project, located in OML-90 in shallow water off Nigeria's southeastern shore. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/ ) (Reporting by Nick Tattersall; editing by James Jukwey)