Oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil is reportedly running a pilot program that allows it to use excess natural gas to power crypto mining rigs. The company looks to expand the trial program to four more nations.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Exxon Mobil has reached an agreement with Crusoe Energy to use excess gas from North Dakota oil wells to power Bitcoin (BTC) miners.
The project is said to consume 18 million cubic feet of natural gas every month, or around 0.4 percent of the oil giant’s reported operations in the state, which produce 158 million cubic feet per day.
The trial program began in January 2021, and the company is now exploring expanding to Nigeria, Argentina, Guyana, and Germany, as well as starting a comparable operation in Alaska, according to reports.
In February, it was reported that oil and gas major ConocoPhillips was selling excess gas to third-party Bitcoin miners for fuel.
Crypto mining using Natural gas
Natural gas transportation requires pipes, which are not always capable of securely transporting the amount produced. Companies are frequently required to burn off excess gas or vent it into the atmosphere, putting the environment and economic margins at risk.
“It’s making use of what would have been wasted otherwise,” Danielle Fugere, president of the environmental shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, said of the energy redirected to Bitcoin miners.
Crusoe Energy, according to Argus Media, maintained 60 crypto mining data centres across four US states as of September 2021, fuelled by “gas from the oil wells that would otherwise be burned on site.”
Instead of burning the gas, it is said to be diverted to crypto mining, which cuts carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions “by up to 63 percent.”
Though North Dakota’s Bakken shale basin is a key supplier of natural gas for the United States, Texas is home to many oil and gas corporations, as well as crypto mining companies, who see the state’s potential for energy production.
In response to criticism citing environmental concerns, New York lawmakers have recommended stopping proof-of-work mining powered by fossil fuels.
