ExxonMobil in the US is piloting a bitcoin mining project in North Dakota

[Dhaniii]

ExxonMobil, a leading oil and gas producer in the US, is currently piloting a bitcoin mining project in North Dakota.
This project looks like a ConocoPhillips mining scheme in North Dakota's Bakken area to power shipping containers full of thousands of bitcoin miners. Exxon launched trials in late January 2021 and expanded construction in July.
source : https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/tech/20220328111734-37-326520/terungkap-raksasa-migas-exxonmobil-menambang-bitcoin

What do you think about testing this project?
we expect to have a significant impact on the bitcoin market going forward.

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[Poker Player]

What do you think about testing this project?
we expect to have a significant impact on the bitcoin market going forward.

Hey man! First, this doesn't belong to speculation, it belongs to economics but I'll report the thread to be moved for you.

Second: many of us don't understand Indonesian, you could have already put a link in English, but also in this case I will put it for you.

"ExxonMobil, the top oil and gas producer in the U.S., is piloting a project to mine bitcoin in North Dakota, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

For over a year, Exxon has been working with Crusoe Energy Systems, a company based in Denver, said the people who asked not to be named because details of the project are confidential. Crusoe’s technology helps oil companies turn wasted energy, or flare gas, into a useful resource.

Similar to ConocoPhillips’ mining scheme in North Dakota’s Bakken region, Exxon is diverting natural gas that would otherwise be burned off into generators, which convert the gas into electricity used to power shipping containers full of thousands of bitcoin miners. Exxon launched the pilot in late January 2021 and expanded its buildout in July."

More on: Exxon is mining bitcoin in North Dakota as part of its plan to slash emissions.

What I find interesting about this news is that in some way ExxonMobil is somehow part of the power establishment. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and that they start mining Bitcoin means that they see this as unstoppable.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Well that's....interesting.  My first impression was that you know bitcoin has jumped the shark when a giant mega-corporation like Exxon Mobil gets into the business of mining it.  Fortunately my first impressions of things are often wrong.

If this article is true and Exxon really does get into the BTC mining business, it probably would be profitable for them.  But one problem I see is that they have so much cash they can throw at the operation that they might end up with a bit too much hashing power if they decided to go that far.  Maybe somebody with actual mining experience could set me straight on that point and tell me if I'm wrong.

As far as their choice of location, they picked a good one.  North Dakota has got to be one of the coldest states in the US.  They might have done better in Alaska, but maybe there's some tax advantage in ND.

[_act_]

What do you think about testing this project?
we expect to have a significant impact on the bitcoin market going forward.

It would be a good project. I am not certain about how mining and crypto market are related, the existence of one is making impact on the other but mining is not directly connected to bitcoin price increase or reduction, though some miners can close down if the price of bitcoin is reducing, so bitcoin price have influence more on mining than mining having more influce on bitcoin price.

If this article is true and Exxon really does get into the BTC mining business, it probably would be profitable for them.  But one problem I see is that they have so much cash they can throw at the operation that they might end up with a bit too much hashing power if they decided to go that far.  Maybe somebody with actual mining experience could set me straight on that point and tell me if I'm wrong.

That is true, there would be increase in hashrates, but if people continue to adopt bitcoin, miners would not have to be worried. If mining is not profitable for some miners again, they will close down in such a way mining will still continues.

As far as their choice of location, they picked a good one.  North Dakota has got to be one of the coldest states in the US.  They might have done better in Alaska, but maybe there's some tax advantage in ND.

ExxonMobil is also considering similar pilots in Alaska (USA), Nigeria and Argentina. What I like about it is that gases that were wastes before that were burned would converted to electricity to mine bitcoin.

[YOSHIE]

What do you think about testing this project?
we expect to have a significant impact on the bitcoin market going forward.

I have read about Exxon Mobil, I think Malik has already answered about this for the continuation in the future, if Exxon Mobil uses flare gas for digital currency miners especially Bitcoin.

As said by: @Malik below.

Report: Gas Giant Exxon Is Running a Gas-to-Bitcoin Mining Pilot Program in North Dakota

Exxon Mobil is working with Crusoe Energy Solutions in the state of North Dakota.

Crusoe Energy is a firm that provides oil and gas companies with a digital solution to natural gas flaring. Natural gas flaring takes place when an oil or gas firm processes oil from shale and the oil extraction process releases excess gas that is typically burned. Some oil firms have found ways to convert the flare gas into useful energy and Crusoe Energy helps gas companies use the flare gas to mine digital currencies like bitcoin (BTC).

Bloomberg reporter that Exxon Mobil is considering adding pilot programs that leverage flare gas to mine crypto in four different countries.

Here I can draw one conclusion, if Exxon Mobil uses flare gas, as a source of energy for Bitcoin mining, especially in the four countries as said by the source above, of course there will be an impact on Bitcoin, the more mining activity is created, new blocks will be formed, meaning that the number of miners also takes longer, the conclusion that the profits obtained by miners are getting bigger, who doesn't want to process exhaust gas into an energy source that can generate millions of $ per second and per day.

Conclusion: Exxon Mobil's trial of processing flare gas into Bitcoin miners' energy, it was a genius idea to make huge profits in Bitcoin.

[aysg76]

Well that's....interesting.  My first impression was that you know bitcoin has jumped the shark when a giant mega-corporation like Exxon Mobil gets into the business of mining it.  Fortunately my first impressions of things are often wrong.

Few weeks back they also set off their business in Russia due to the war and it was really bold decision as they were having strategic business over there but still they opted out and stand with Ukraine in this time.They can supply to other nations to recover the loss.But yes as per reports they are stepping into bitcoin mining by using the excess waste gas to mine bitcoin and get profits over it.

If this article is true and Exxon really does get into the BTC mining business, it probably would be profitable for them.  But one problem I see is that they have so much cash they can throw at the operation that they might end up with a bit too much hashing power if they decided to go that far.  Maybe somebody with actual mining experience could set me straight on that point and tell me if I'm wrong.

They might be having so much huge cash reserves but I don't think they are putting all in this mining business as stakeholders won't let it happen easily.

It’s not as if Exxon shareholders are hard up for cash, either: in the five years after the Paris Agreement was brokered, the company has funneled $103.3 billion into dividends and stock buybacks. Last year, Exxon devoted just 0.16 percent of its capital expenditure toward its low-carbon efforts.

They have distributed quite a lot of dividends and maybe putting good amount of money into this mining process but still won't be able to capture the full control of the market according to me.At this time the mining difficulty is hard and you need very high level of ASIC machines which many mining pools like Antpool have but still we see hashrate distribution.You can't take full control of bitcoin network with huge money inflows also which keeps it safe and this scenario is not possible.Although I am not mining expert but this is my opinion from the knowledge i have.So it's good for them if they jump into this mining business but will see when it actually happens.

As far as their choice of location, they picked a good one.  North Dakota has got to be one of the coldest states in the US.  They might have done better in Alaska, but maybe there's some tax advantage in ND.

They also have plans for bitcoin projects in Alaska as well as per reports:

Last week, Bloomberg reported that ExxonMobil is planning to expand its bitcoin-mining pilot in the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota, opening up new bitcoin projects in Alaska, Nigeria, Guyana, Argentina, and Germany.

Source ExxonMobil btc mining plans

[Hydrogen]

Similar to ConocoPhillips’ mining scheme in North Dakota’s Bakken region, Exxon is diverting natural gas that would otherwise be burned off into generators, which convert the gas into electricity used to power shipping containers full of thousands of bitcoin miners. Exxon launched the pilot in late January 2021 and expanded its buildout in July[/i]."

"Exxon is diverting natural gas that would otherwise be burned off into generators."

If exxon is harnessing waste gas as a form of energy, to mine bitcoin. It should be considered a carbon neutral or environmentally friendly operation. Stereotypes regarding exxon business ventures being environmentally destructive may not apply here, which is nice to see.

Investment banks like goldman sachs have long bought up crypto exchanges like poloniex (via circle) for their own motives. Now it appears exxon is investing in the mining infrastructure of bitcoin under a similar practice.

I think there was a news story about a similar mining operation being constructed near washington DC but for some reason I could find a link to the article about it.

[xSkylarx]

The fact that large corporations are mining bitcoin is not surprising given the current value of the bitcoin, but according to the news I read that they are using wasted flare gas which is not a renewable energy source, but rather comes from drilling for oil, which we all know that it has  a negative impact on the environment. I am shocked that this type of waste can be recycled in some way that you can power a miner; however, there are currently no infrastructures in place or any information about their pilot program that I could  see in the internet.

Source : https://interestingengineering.com/exxon-mobil-gas-bitcoin

[darkangel11]

This is huge.

People were looking for alternative uses to mining for a long time. I remember many years ago there was a youtube video showing a Russian guy who used heat from miners to grow plants in winter and melt snow in his yard. There were people who directed hot air generated by miners to heat their houses in winter months or keep their livestock warm. Since Exxon mines gas as a byproduct of mining oil and has to burn it down, like we see being done on all those big oil rigs, using it to mine seems like a great idea and it's going to be good for the environment too. Time to shut all those who think PoW mining should be banned.

[coolcoinz]

Great to see that they are going to allocate some resources to mining. If their project succeeds and shows some good numbers, I'm pretty sure other companies will follow their path and do the same. It's like with El Salvador, that became a pioneer in bitcoin acceptance and we are getting reports of other countries planning to do the same, especially poor countries that need some advertising, some tourism that will boost their economy.

The important part is that there's not enough bitcoin for all of them. Sooner or later so many companies and countries turn to bitcoin that we'll face a big shortage of supply and everything will explode: price, hash rate, number of addresses... I hope you're all ready.