PGNiG Upstream Norway AS (PUN) from the ORLEN Group has signed an agreement with Wintershall Dea Norge AS about the exchange of stakes in the production assets in Norway. PUN will gain interests in the Idun Nord deposit and increase its stake in the Adriana and Sabina deposits. In return, it will give Wintershall Dea a portion of its stakes in the Ærfugl Nord deposit. As a result of the transaction, the company’s recoverable resources will increase by over 0.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas. The asset exchange will also optimize PUN’s shares in the Skarv concessions, improving effectiveness and reducing management costs of these assets.
ORLEN Group is now at the forefront of production companies on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. This is due to the integration of our Norwegian companies, organic growth, and further acquisitions. We have a broad and attractive portfolio of concessions, which we can actively manage through the exchange of shares with other companies operating in this market. The primary goal of these actions is to increase ORLEN Group’s production capacity, especially for natural gas. The agreement signed today with Wintershall Dea Norge will increase our resources on the Shelf by over 0.4 billion cubic meters of gas and help maintain a stable level of supply of this raw material to Poland in the next few years, thus strengthening the country’s energy security – says Daniel Obajtek, CEO of ORLEN.
The agreement between PGNiG Upstream Norway and Wintershall Dea Norge stipulates that in exchange for a 3.08% stake in the Ærfugl Nord deposit, the ORLEN Group will receive an 11.92% stake in the Idun Nord deposit and a 1.92% stake in the license PL211 CS, which includes the Adriana and Sabina deposits.
The transaction will increase the total recoverable gas resources of the ORLEN Group on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, increasing its net resources by 0.42 billion cubic meters. In addition, PUN will have the opportunity to optimize its production profile.
After approval by the Norwegian oil administration, PUN’s share in all the deposits exchanged will be 11.92%, the same as in the Skarv deposit, which is ORLEN Group’s main operating center on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Uniform shares will achieve synergies, making more efficient management of the entire area possible and increasing the value of the asset portfolio there.
The Idun Nord deposit is estimated to contain recoverable resources equivalent to 3.3 million cubic meters of oil, dominated by 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
The Idun Nord, Adrian, and Sabina developments, using the Skarv deposit extraction installations increase production profitability.
After the asset exchange, PUN’s share in the Ærfugl Nord deposit will decrease by 3.08% to 11.92%.
This asset exchange with Wintershall Dea Norge is another transaction this year by ORLEN Group on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
PGNiG Upstream Norway is already the owner of a 10% stake in the license that includes the Adriana and Sabina deposits, which it bought in June this year.
The Norwegian Continental Shelf is one of the key foreign markets in which the ORLEN Group operates. Thanks to the Baltic Pipe pipeline, the group can deliver over 8 billion cubic meters of gas annually to Poland, with an increasing proportion of its own extraction. By the end of 2030, the company aims to increase gas production from its Norwegian deposits to 6 billion cubic meters per year.
