The ORLEN Group, together with the Norwegian operator AkerBP and license partners, plans to develop and exploit further deposits on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, the Polish energy company confirmed last week. The estimated volume of the reserves allocated to ORLEN will provide a total of 9 bcm of natural gas and 46.6 million boe (barrels of oil equivalent) of crude oil and natural gas condensate.
The gas produced from ORLEN’s deposits to Poland will constitute a significant part of supplies delivered through the recently commissioned Baltic Pipe pipeline.
The planned investments require parliamentary approval of the Norwegian Parliament, with a vote expected to take place in the second quarter of 2023. This would give the green light to begin drilling on the deposits between 2024-2025 and exploitation in 2027.
“In the current geopolitical situation, it is clear how important it is to provide Poles with reliable sources of gas and oil supplies,” said the President of the Management Board of PKN ORLEN, Daniel Obajtek. “Thanks to natural gas resources obtained from Norwegian deposits, which we will send to Poland via the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline, we will strengthen the country’s energy security. This is why, among other reasons, we have built a multi-energy concern whose strong pillars are mining and energy. Thanks to the first synergies obtained from the merger of PKN ORLEN with PGNiG and Grupa LOTOS, we have strengthened our competencies in these areas and gained access to diversified sources of oil and gas. As one entity, we have an even stronger position on the international market, which allows us to develop cooperation and exchange experiences with major partners in the industry.”
Companies from the ORLEN Group, LOTOS Norge and PGNiG Upstream Norway operate on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. In conjunction with the concession partners: AkerBP, Equinor and WintershallDEA, the companies submitted plans for the development and exploitation of further fields in which they hold shares to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The operator of these fields is AkerBP, and the total recoverable resources attributable to all concessionaires are estimated at 580.9 million boe. Of this, 102.4 million boe are allocated to the companies of the ORLEN Group, proportionally to their shares. The planned capital commitment, depending on their share in individual deposits, is estimated at approximately 2.3 billion złotych (500 million euros).
“We highly value cooperation with licensing partners,” said the President of the Management Board of AkerBP, Karl Johnny Hersvik. “Thanks to the professional activities of all concessionaires, we were able to efficiently develop and agree on plans for the development and exploitation of new deposits, which were submitted to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The positive decision of the Norwegian authorities will allow us to start production effectively.”
The NOAKA project is one the largest investments currently underway on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, worth approximately over 50 billion złotych (10.6 billion euros). LOTOS Norge, part of the ORLEN Group, is among the companies involved in its implementation, which involves the development of fields located in the North Sea, in the area of North of Alvheim (Frigg Gamma Delta, Langfjellet, Rind and Froy), Fulla and Lille-Frigg, as well as the Krafla and Askja fields.
