ExxonMobil Running Pilot Project to Supply Flared Gas for Bitcoin Mining: Report

ExxonMobil Running Pilot Project to Supply Flared Gas for Bitcoin Mining: Report

Oil giant ExxonMobil (XOM) is running a pilot project to use what would otherwise be wasted gas from its North Dakota oil wells to power bitcoin mining operations, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The excess natural gas would have otherwise been burned off, or flared, because of the lack of enough pipelines.

The oil major is also looking to supply flared gas for bitcoin miners at other sites around the globe, according to the report. ExxonMobil has a deal with Crusoe Energy Systems, one of the pioneers of using wasted gas to power bitcoin mining operations, to take gas from an oil well pad in the Bakken shale basin to power mobile generators that are used for bitcoin mining operations, Bloomberg said, citing the unnamed source.