Algerian state oil firm Sonatrach announced new oil and gas discoveries in the North African country's Sahara desert, including a find made with Italian major Eni.

Gas deposits were found by Sonatrach in the Illizi Basin, the energy company said in a statement.

It said that during tests, one reservoir indicated a flow of 300,000 cubic meters of gas per day while another had a daily rate of 213,000 cubic meters.

A second discovery was made with Eni at a well in the Berkine North Basin.

Production there was estimated at 1,300 barrels of oil per day and 51,000 cubic meters of gas, the statement added.

Tests at the Bechar Basin, also in the Sahara desert, yielded "interesting" results, Sonatrach said, without giving figures.

Eni has operated in Algeria since 1981 and is Sonatrach's main foreign partner in the oil and gas sector.

Algeria, Africa's biggest gas exporter, earns some 90% of its state revenues from hydrocarbons.