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Tecpetrol, Argentina’s Oil Company Taps Leftover Gas Power to Mine Crypto

Published

1 year ago

September 27, 2023

A Buenos Aires-headquartered oil company, Tecpetrol, has decided to convert excessive gas into energy for cryptocurrency mining. While the company aims to generate additional profits through mining, they also want to reduce environmental impact by avoiding gas emissions.

On Sept. 24, a report from local media mentioned that Tecpetrol will launch its first gas-powered crypto mining facility in the Los Toldos II Este region, located north of Vaca Muerta in Argentine Patagonia. The company claims that this approach will allow them to advance their crude oil production project and optimize gas utilization, thereby reducing waste.

In an effort to make use of the excess gas produced by its oil operations, the company plans to drill at least 35,000 barrels of oil daily at the facility. However, due to the absence of infrastructure to consume the released gas, they have decided to explore crypto mining as a strategic choice to utilize it. Tecpetrol CEO Ricardo Markous explained:

“Given our inability to release the gas into the environment, we have opted to implement cryptocurrency mining operations.”

Tecpetrol plans to start crypto mining sometime between late October and early November. The company has already signed contracts and is collaborating with an unnamed firm that has experience implementing similar strategies in the United States. Their primary goals are to reduce environmental impact by avoiding gas emissions and to generate additional profits.

According to a recent paper published by the Institute of Risk Management, utilizing Bitcoin mining to convert wasted methane into less harmful emissions could potentially lead to a reduction of global emissions by up to 8% by 2030. The report presented a theoretical case, suggesting that utilizing captured methane to power Bitcoin mining operations can effectively decrease the amount of methane released into the atmosphere.