ORLEN Upstream Norway (OUN) has acquired a 25% interest from Vår Energi in production licence PL293 in the North Sea. The licence includes the Aphrodite unconventional deposit, which could ultimately deliver nearly 2 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas to the group.
According to ORLEN, work carried out under PL293 will serve as a platform to develop and validate new extraction methods for unconventional oil and gas resources on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). Unconventional reservoirs in the area are described as geologically challenging—often combining low reservoir permeability with high temperature and pressure—conditions that can limit the effectiveness of conventional production techniques.
“Unconventional gas and oil deposits on the Norwegian Continental Shelf represent enormous, as-yet untapped potential,” said Wiesław Prugar, ORLEN Management Board Member responsible for Upstream. He added that Aphrodite is expected to function as a “testing ground” to verify assumptions and improve methods that could later be applied to other unconventional resources.
Why Aphrodite matters: from discovery to appraisal
The Aphrodite deposit was discovered in 2008, but its development was not previously considered due to difficult reservoir conditions. Recently, the licence partners decided to drill an appraisal well to assess whether Aphrodite’s resources can be produced using production-stimulation techniques. The well is also expected to help better define recoverable volumes.
Based on currently available data, OUN estimates total resources at around 7.5 bcm of gas, of which roughly 1.9 bcm would be attributable to ORLEN’s 25% share. If the field moves forward to development, production could be tied back to infrastructure at the Kvitebjørn field, where OUN is also a partner—an option that ORLEN says could generate operational and cost synergies.
Partners and approvals
Completion of the PL293 acquisition is subject to standard approvals from Norway’s authorities. After approval, ORLEN will hold 25% in the licence, alongside Equinor as operator with 70% and Wellesley Petroleum with 5%.
Building a broader unconventional portfolio in Norway
The Aphrodite partnership is part of a wider push by ORLEN to expand its unconventional resource portfolio in Norway. In January 2026, following the APA 2025 licensing round, OUN received an offer to take a 20% interest in the Victoria unconventional field—described by the company as the largest undeveloped gas field on the Norwegian shelf, with estimated geological resources of 140 bcm. ORLEN also notes that total discovered but still undeveloped unconventional gas resources in Norway are estimated at more than 800 bcm.
ORLEN’s activity on the NCS aligns with its ORLEN 2035 strategy, under which Norwegian assets are expected to supply up to 12 bcm of natural gas per year by 2030.
