Orlen Eyes Acquisitions, New Projects in Norway to Bolster Production
August 26, 2026
Polish energy group Orlen aims to double production from its operations on the Norwegian continental shelf, one of its growth areas, through exploration and acquisitions, its upstream chief told Reuters.
Wieslaw Prugar in an interview on the sidelines of an energy conference said the company would ideally like to reach 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 100,000 boepd now and that its aim was for a larger share to be oil as opposed to natural gas.
Already the eighth-largest oil and gas producer in Norway's offshore, he said Orlen has invested more than $8 billion and hopes to acquire more producing assets.
In a first step, Orlen's output is expected to grow to 120,000 boepd, when Aker BP-operated Yggdrasil and Fenris offshore projects start production next year.
Prugar said the timing of any acquisitions would depend on the market.
"If there will be some shift, maybe from the majors, which we could see maybe in 2027," he said.
International oil companies have pared back their presence in Norway in recent years, although ConocoPhillips, Shell and TotalEnergies remain active. The latter only holds stakes in partner-operated fields.
Orlen in June agreed to buy a 20% stake in Vaar Energi's-operated VAR.OL Goliat oilfield in the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea.
"Goliat is part of the strategy to diversify our product portfolio. We were gas-oriented and now we want to have more oil in our reserve base and more of our own barrels for the future," Prugar said.
More than 70% of Orlen's Norwegian production is natural gas. The company produces more than 4.5 billion cubic metres annually and aims to raise that to 6 bcm.
Orlen also has plans to expand in Canada, growing its output there to some 100,000 boepd from about 27,000 boepd, and is evaluating opportunities in additional countries, Prugar said.
(Reuters - Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; editing by Barbara Lewis)
