Exxon Mobil to Mine Bitcoin Using Excess Gas: Bloomberg Report

According to a recent report from Bloomberg author Naureen Malik, Exxon Mobil, the largest oil and gas corporation in the world, is working on operating a Bitcoin mining facility with its excess gas production.

Malik wrote in the report dated March 24 that “people familiar with the matter” revealed the plans to Bloomberg, although pleaded anonymity. These anonymous sources explained that Exxon Mobil is in partnership with Crusoe Energy Solutions in North Dakota.

Crusoe Energy has been known to provide oil and gas corporations with digital alternatives to natural gas flaring. Natural gas flaring comes from the burning of excess gas from oil extraction processes. While some oil companies have found other alternative measures to utilize flared gas, Crusoe Energy is in the business of assisting oil companies with excess gas use that energy to mine digital currencies like Bitcoin.

Exxon Mobil Currently Running Pilot Program on Gas-to-Bitcoin Mining

The Bloomberg report revealed that Exxon Mobil’s pilot program is in progress in an oil pad somewhere near the Bakken shale basin. The anonymous sources further detailed that the “Bitcoin mining servers” used in the pilot program are currently in use on the site. The informants also revealed that the behemoth oil company is looking into adding pilot programs that channels excess flared gas into mining cryptocurrency in four other countries.

Malik’s report detailed that “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.”

That said, Malik noted that he has reached out to Crusoe Energy Solutions for comments, but the company has refrained from commenting on the report.

Interestingly, there are several other companies apart from Crusoe Energy offering gas-to-Bitcoin solutions, including Upstream Data, EZ Blockchain, and Greenidge Generation.