ROME, June 27 (Reuters) - Italy's Eni said on

Thursday it had signed a binding agreement to sell Nikaitchuq

and Oooguruk upstream assets it owns in Alaska to U.S. private

company Hilcorp.

The value of transaction will be announced at closing, the

Italian energy group said.

"This transaction is consistent with Eni's strategy focused

on the rationalization of the upstream activities by rebalancing

its portfolio and divesting non-strategic assets," it added in a

statement.