Equinor has raised its estimate for recoverable gas and condensate at Afrodite in the North Sea to 77–180 million barrels of oil equivalent following appraisal drilling. The company said on 29 October that the gas volumes could be more than double its previous estimate.
The discovery dates from 2008. Its tight, high-pressure, high-temperature reservoir remains a technical challenge: low permeability restricts how readily gas moves through the rock. Equinor says further analysis of the well results is needed.
The company considers Afrodite commercially viable and is studying a subsea tie-back to the Kvitebjørn platform. A development could use existing infrastructure to send gas through Kollsnes for European markets. The announcement is an appraisal update, not a final investment decision or construction award.
Deepsea Yantai drilled the well, operated by Wellesley. Equinor operates production licence PL293 and holds 60%, alongside ORLEN Upstream Norway with 25%, DNO with 10% and Wellesley with 5%.
Source: Equinor appraisal announcement, 29 October 2026.
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Image credit: Illustrative infrastructure file photograph of the Kollsnes coastline and gas-processing flare in Øygarden, Norway, 1 May 2012. This is not Afrodite, the drilling rig or a current event. Tom Rolvag (trolvag), via Wikimedia Commons/Panoramio, CC BY-SA 3.0; resized and converted to WebP.
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