ROME (Bloomberg) -- Enel SpA Chief Executive Officer Fulvio Conti said Russian energy assets that the Italian utility bought this year may hold more natural gas than previously estimated.

“Geological data show that the gas is accessible and that the reserves are more than expected,” Conti said in an interview late Thursday in Cernobbio, Italy, where he was attending an annual gathering of political, economic, and business leaders. When Enel and Italian oil company Eni SpA jointly won the assets in April, they said reserves were 5 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Enel, Italy’s largest utility, is expanding abroad to add generating capacity and reduce reliance on its home market. The Rome-based company is spending about 4 billion euros ($5.5 billion) to extend its fuel access and electricity business in Russia, where power demand is set to grow 5 percent and the national electricity utility is seeking partners for a $120 billion program to revamp aging infrastructure.
“Russia is an optimum opportunity for Enel,” said Tatjana Eifrig, an analyst at Banca Finnat Euramerica in Rome. “Of the emerging markets it has one of the best growth rates in the power sector.”
A revised estimate of the amount of fuel in the fields Eni and Enel purchased will be prepared by the middle of next year, Conti said.
--------- Shares gain
Enel shares rose as much as 1.8 percent and Eni advanced 1 percent, compared with a 1 percent decline in Italy’s benchmark S&P/MIB Index. Enel gained 8 cents, or 1.1 percent, to trade at 7.50 euros at 11:38 a.m. in Milan. Eni added 0.6 percent to 25.45 euros.
Enel and Eni jointly paid $5.9 billion this year for the assets of bankrupt OAO Yukos Oil Co., including a stake in Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of OAO Gazprom. Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled gas company, has an option to buy control of the assets from the Italian companies.
Enel, which bought a stake in Russian generator OAO OGK-5 in June, is bidding for the 70 percent of the company it doesn’t already own. OGK-5 has output of 8,700 megawatts, or 5.8 percent of Russia’s thermal generation, of which half is gas-fired and most of the rest coal-fired. It plans to add another 1,200 megawatts in the next three years.
------------ Endesa bid
The utility’s push in Russia coincides with its expansion in southern Europe. Enel and Spanish builder Acciona SA are bidding for the 54 percent of Endesa SA they don’t already own. The bid values Spain’s largest utility at 42.5 billion euros.
“Expansion certainly helps Enel,” said Massimiliano Romano, an analyst at Concentric Italy in Milan. “It gives access to fuel supplies at reasonable prices.”
Dividends from Endesa helped sustain Enel’s earnings in the first half, helping offset falling power prices in its home market and a lack of one-time gains. The company said Thursday that net income was little changed in the first half and that profit is set increase this year.
“Net income will rise thanks to the contribution from Endesa and our international expansion,” Conti said. “We’ll increase dividends at a reasonable pace and they will never go below 49 cents per share.”
Conti said Enel would possibly be interested in buying some of the power plants that Suez SA may need to sell to gain approval for its merger with Gaz de France SA. Enel would be willing to swap some of its assets for parts of Suez’s business in Belgium should they come up for sale, he said