On June 17, Gazprom Neft, Russia’s third largest oil firm, will power data centres run by Bitriver, the country’s leading crypto mining company. Associated petroleum gas, a type of natural gas found near oil resources, will be used to generate the electricity required for the manufacturing of digital currency.
The agreement was made as part of a memorandum of understanding signed by the two firms during the St. Louis International Film Festival. According to RBC Crypto, a Bitriver representative was quoted at the Petersburg International Economic Forum. The announcement comes after the United States recently imposed penalties on a Russian miner.
The mining company will create digital infrastructure at the Gazprom Neft oil fields and provide computer-based services, according to the agreement, according to the report. Although digital finance is not part of Gazprom Neft’s business strategy, the oil giant is looking at ways to make “useful use” of related gas obtained during oil extraction.
The infrastructure required to use associated gas for energy-intensive crypto asset mining has already been created at Gazprom Neft companies in three Russian areas. Gazprom Neft is the Russian state-controlled natural gas giant Gazprom’s oil division. The company was first reported to be offering bitcoin miners the ability to use leftover gas from oil drilling in January of last year. Companies in the United States have also used stranded gas to create cryptocurrency.
Oil-rich Oman has revealed plans to mine bitcoin using related gas, with the purpose of lowering harmful emissions into the atmosphere, where this gas is often vented or burned. The country purchased a $350-million investment in Crusoe Energy Systems Inc. in the United States, which specialises in crypto mining using excess fuel energy.
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