Exxon Mobil Corporation is said to be participating in a pilot project that uses excess natural gas for powering crypto mining machines. This was according to a report that cited people who are familiar with the subject. Crusoe Energy Systems is the partner of Exxon Mobil Corporation, while the pilot program is being conducted in North Dakota at Bakken Shale Basin.
According to unnamed sources, Exxon is piloting a Bitcoin mining operation in North Dakota using Flare Gas.
Naureen S. Malik (Bloomberg author) reported March 24th that Exxon Mobil, the US’s largest oil and gas company, was participating in a pilot project to mine bitcoins with excess gas. Malik wrote that “people familiar with the matter” told Bloomberg that they could not be named because the information is not public. People who requested not to be identified said Exxon Mobil currently works with Crusoe energy Solutions in North Dakota.
Crusoe Energy provides digital solutions to natural gas flaring for oil and gas firms. When oil and gas companies extract oil from shale, natural gas flaring occurs. Excess gas is usually burned. Crusoe Energy, which helps gas companies mine bitcoins (BTC) from flare gas, has found ways of converting it into energy.
Malik’s report says that Exxon Mobil’s pilot is taking place at an oil pad located near the Bakken shale basin. The people familiar with the matter further said the “bitcoin mining servers” used in the pilot program are operating on site. The Bloomberg reporter was also informed by anonymous sources that Exxon Mobil may add pilot programs to leverage flare gas in order to mine crypto across four countries.
“Exxon, the largest U.S. oil producer, is considering similar pilots in Alaska, the Qua Iboe Terminal in Nigeria, Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale field, Guyana and Germany, one of the people said,” Malik’s report notes. Although, Malik contacted Crusoe Energy about the story and the reporter said the company “declined to comment.” Crusoe Energy Solutions is based in Denver Colorado, and the company system is called “digital flare mitigation technology” or DFM.
Equinor reportedly operated in North Dakota, with Crusoe Energy. The Report Also Shows that Conocophillips sold excessive flare gas to Mining Operations at the Bakken Shale Basin
There have been other times where there’s speculation abound concerning large gas companies mining bitcoin and reports shining a light on specific companies. Arcane Research released a few screenshots of Equinor, a publicly traded energy company, in August 2020. The report claims that Equinor, a Norwegian state-owned energy company was working alongside Crusoe Energie Solutions. Reportedly, Equinor’s collaboration with Crusoe in North Dakota was focused on reducing flaring from oil operations via bitcoin mining.
In addition to Equinor and Exxon, reports in mid-February indicated that Conocophillips was allegedly “selling extra flare gas to bitcoin miners in North Dakota.” The CNBC report said that Conocophillips also was working on a pilot in the Bakken shale basin region. CNBC author MacKenzie Sigalos wrote that Conocophillips did not disclose “which bitcoin miner it sells to, nor how long the pilot project has been underway.” However, Sigalos did say in the report that oftentimes a company like Crusoe Energy is used by the gas company.
Crusoe Energy does not offer gas-tobitcoin solution. Upstream Data, EZ Blockchain and EZ Blockchain also provide this service. Greenidge Generation makes use of excess gas in order to mine Bitcoins rather than wasting, burning, or burning it. EZ Blockchain reported last May, that they were working with Silver Energy in Texas to provide oil and natural gas. EZ Blockchain reported at the time that Silver Energy established a mining network in Alberta, Canada a month earlier than expected, in February 2021.
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Images Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Exxon Mobil Corp., Bakken shale basin map,
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