A company belonging to the Orlen Group Orlen Upstream Norway takes over shares in the Afrodyta deposit in the North Sea. It's exactly 25 percent. shares that previously belonged to Var Energi.
“Its resources can bring us close 2 billion cubic meters natural gas. Work under the concession will help develop new methods of obtaining raw materials from unconventional deposits,” Orlen reads in Wednesday's announcement.
“Unconventional gas and oil deposits on the Norwegian Continental Shelf have enormous, yet untapped potential.. We believe that by combining modern mining techniques with the competences we already have, we are able, together with our partners, to reach for these resources and open a new chapter in the history of the Norwegian mining industry,” said Wiesław Prugar, member of the Orlen Management Board for mining.
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“The Afrodyta deposit will be a testing ground for us“, where we will be able to verify our assumptions and improve working methods to use them to develop other unconventional resources” – he added.
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Orlen indicates that the Afrodyta deposit was discovered in 2008.but due to difficult conditions, its development has not been taken into account so far. However, recently the concession partners decided to drill an appraisal well in the field to investigate the possibility of exploiting the Aphrodite resources using production stimulation techniques. The drilling will also allow for a better determination of the deposit's recoverable resources.
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ORLEN
Based on already available data, the OUN estimates it at approx. 7.5 billion cubic meters gas, of which approx. 1.9 billion cubic meters for Orlen. If they are exploited, it will be possible using the installation at the Kvitebjorn field, in which OUN is also a shareholder. This will provide the company with additional cost and operational synergies.
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“Taking over the PL293 license requires standard consents from the Norwegian administration. Once obtained, Orlen will have a 25% share in the Afrodyta deposit. The company's partners will be Equinor, which is the concession operator (70 percent of shares) and Wellesley Petroleum (5 percent).“, the company explains in a statement.
Orlen is entering more into unconventional resources
The partnership on the Afrodyta deposit is another decision by Orlen to increase its portfolio of unconventional resources in Norway. In January 2026, as part of the settlement of the APA 2025 licensing round, Orlen Upstream Norway received an offer to acquire 20 percent. shares in the unconventional Victoria deposit. This is the largest, so far undeveloped gas field on the Norwegian Shelf, whose geological resources are estimated at 140 billion cubic meters.
The total resources of discovered, but still unexploited, unconventional gas deposits in Norway are estimated at over 800 billion cubic meters.
Orlen Upstream Norway's involvement in the exploration and acquisition of new deposits is consistent with the ORLEN 2035 strategy, according to which Norwegian deposits are expected to supply up to 12 billion cubic meters by 2030. natural gas per year.
