Tecpetrol, an Argentina-based oil and gas company, has reported the benefits of including crypto mining operations in its oil explorative activities. According to Tecpetrol CEO Ricardo Markous, including on-site vented gas generators to mine cryptocurrency has allowed oil production to rise fivefold in Los Toldos II, an exploration project located in the Vaca Muerta oilfield.
Tecpetrol Uses Vented Gas to Mine Crypto and Increase Its Oil Production in Argentina
Tecpetrol, an oil and gas extraction and processing company headquartered in Argentina, has introduced crypto mining in some of its on-site activities. The company, which produces over 170,000 crude barrels in several countries of Latam, increased its production fivefold by mixing its standard oil extraction and gas processing activities with cryptocurrency mining using vented gas.
Ricardo Markous, CEO of Tecpetrol, explained that this increase in the production of the company in Los Toldos II, an exploratory oil project located in the Vaca Muerta oilfield, was achieved due to the exploitation of on-site vented gas that would be unable to be used otherwise, given that the project is still new and lacks infrastructure for its transportation and processing.
Markous stressed that the company implemented a new strategy in an alliance with Unblock, an emission-mitigating company, which takes this unexploitable gas to power eight generators feeding twelve modular data centers where cryptocurrency mining operations take place.
This allowed the company to take the oil production in Los Toldos II from 50 cubic meters to 300 cubic meters per day, a significant increase. The applied strategy also benefits the environment, as Markous detailed that it reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 11% compared to gas flaring.
Unblock, the company that utilizes this gas-powered energy, raised $15 million to take advantage of these flared gas bitcoin mining possibilities in December, with the participation of Crusoe Energy, Pampa Energia, and Petrocuyo.
