International energy firm Equinor plans to redesign gas from US oil fields to support Bitcoin (BTC) mining, according to a new report from Arcane, a cryptocurrency market research center.
Arcane Research said it took screenshots from Equinor's blog detailing the company's plans to use natural gas to generate electricity, rather than burning it. Gas combustion is a process frequently used by oil extraction firms, involving the burning of excess gas released during oil extraction operations. The report highlighted Equinor's understanding of the cryptocurrency mining industry that consumes a lot of electricity to power its mining devices.
Mining with Natural Gas
This is not the first time Equinor has aimed to merge the crypto mining industry with oil extraction operations. Equinor published its long-term market outlook in 2018 that defined Bitcoin mining as a rapidly growing electricity consumer. The firm quoted Digiconomist, which measures bitcoin mining operations of 70 TWh / year (close to Austria's annual electricity demand).
Lionel Ribeiro, project leader of Equinor's digital solutions business Global Unconventionals (GLU), described the mitigation process as a "natural partnership" between the crypto mining industry and the oil industry.
They believed that this would satisfy "both needs" without market expense. Ribeiro hoped that the electricity generated from the abatement efforts would power both the intensive computing and cooling systems required to mine the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Equinor's energy solution partner, Crusoe, will assist the firm in reducing natural gas.
Also, the research did not mention any other cryptocurrency mining operations.
