ACCRA, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Ghana and Italy on Tuesday resolved to deepen their bilateral relations and explore areas of mutual interest.

Addressing a joint press conference at the presidency after holding bilateral talks with the visiting Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, President Nana Akufo-Addo said the relations between Ghana and Italy dated several years back and that the arrival of Gentiloni was within the context of the strong relationship between the two countries.

He said the biggest investment in Ghana for over a decade was that which had been made by the Italian state-owned petroleum company, ENI, which discovered an integrated oil field called the Offshore Cape Three Points in 2011.

The oilfield officially became operational in July, this year, expecting to produce 45,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak while the production of 171 standard million cubic feet of gas per day will commence in 2018.

"The ENI investment is extremely important for the future of our country, not only in developing our oil deposits, but also, perhaps, even more significantly, in the gas resources that are going to be developed by them," he said, adding that the involvement of ENI gave the opportunity to Ghana to become increasingly self-sufficient in its energy generation.

On the impending 5th AU-EU summit due in Cote d'Ivoire from Wednesday, Akufo-Addo was hopeful that the Summit would define more concretely the relationship between the two continents.

He hoped both Ghana and Italy would play very constructive roles during the summit in defining the new understanding and relationship between Europe and Africa.

Gentiloni is expected to later interact with business establishments with Italian interests.