Gazprom Neft, the oil unit of Russian fuel large Gazprom, has launched a cryptocurrency mining operation at one in every of its oil websites in Siberia, CoinDesk reported on Wednesday.
Gazprom Neft, the third-largest oil producer in Russia, is utilizing related fuel from an oilfield within the Khanty-Mansiysk area of northwestern Siberia to generate electrical energy it sells to the crypto mining operations, CoinDesk experiences.
Cryptocurrency mining requires numerous electrical energy, and Siberia is considered an ideal place for crypto mining, the BBC mentioned in a information story in 2018.
Gazprom Neft doesn’t plan to mine for cryptocurrencies itself, a spokesperson for the corporate advised CoinDesk. Nonetheless, the Russian oil producer is open to sharing its power assets with crypto miners.
Gazprom Neft believes that crypto miners might be one of many prospects of the electrical energy produced from related fuel.
Energy from related fuel can energy information facilities and mining farms, Alexander Kalmykov, Head of the Blockchain Expertise Middle at Gazprom Neft, advised Russian outlet Forklog.
This can improve using the uncooked supplies, particularly in faraway areas in Siberia and the Arctic, the place transporting related fuel out of the oilfields will not be worthwhile, Kalmykov advised Forklog.
Gazprom Neft has piloted this 12 months a small crypto mining operation with Russian laptop {hardware} producer Vekus at one in every of its oilfields in Siberia. Gazprom Neft used the related fuel to supply electrical energy and promote it, at costs under the worth from the grid, to Vekus.
The alliance in Siberia will not be distinctive within the oil business.
In North Dakota, Crusoe Vitality Programs, acknowledged as an innovator by the North Dakota Petroleum Basis, has developed know-how and tools to seize pure fuel on the wellhead and convert it into electrical energy for energy-intensive computing, together with Bitcoin mining.
In the meantime, the worth of Bitcoin hit an all-time high at $28,400 early on Wednesday, with analysts saying the $30,000-mark might be hit earlier than the New 12 months.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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