Ecologists Comment on Gazprom Neft’s Associated Petroleum Gas Mining Project

Scientists, entrepreneurs and miners provided ForkLog with exclusive comments on Gazprom Neft’s pilot project for mining on associated petroleum gas (APG).

In 2020 Gazprom Neft installed power plants on APG near oil wells in Khanty-Mansiysk and invited miners to mine bitcoins there. During a one-month test, miners used 49,500 m³ of associated gas and mined 1.8 BTC.

In December 2020, ForkLog told this story about oilmen, miners and the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies in a new special project, ‘Oil, Gas and Bitcoins’.

Rashid Ismailov, chairman of the Russian Ecological Society, believes that scaling the project would benefit the environment and increase the amount of useful utilization of natural resources:

“Utilizing associated petroleum gas through mining is an unconventional project that combines environmental and economic effects. The case with miners can be replicated at other oil fields. I think there is demand for such a collaboration in the market”, commented the expert.

Mikhail Varfolomeev, head of the ‘EcoOil’ division at Kazan Federal University, thinks that mining on associated gas is suitable for utilizing APG at remote oil fields:

“Associated gas is a valuable resource. In Russia there is an acute issue of useful utilization of associated gas at remote fields without dedicated infrastructure. The electricity-generation project will help address this problem”, explains Mikhail Varfolomeev.

Mining on associated gas is a suitable way to reduce environmental harm, says Danis Nurgaliev, director of the Institute of Geology and Oil and Gas Technologies:

“Using associated gas for electricity generation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Gazprom Neft’s project will help Russia meet the Paris climate agreement goals — reduce carbon dioxide emissions and curb the rise in global temperatures”, comments Danis Nurgaliev.

Entrepreneurs also believe that using APG to power mining farms and other computing clusters will benefit technology companies.

Daria Kozlova, head of the ‘State Regulation of the Fuel and Energy Complex’ practice at VYGON Consulting, called electricity generation from associated gas a way to ‘green’ energy-intensive computing:

“Computing power for work with artificial intelligence requires large energy consumption. Producing electricity from associated gas creates a synergy: the APG-fired power plant will be in demand from tech companies, and oil producers will reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Such projects could make the tech sector greener”, explains Daria Kozlova.

Entrepreneur Alexander Grigoryev, who participated in Gazprom Neft’s bitcoin mining project at the field, considers the project advantageous for miners:

“With low electricity costs, mining on associated gas is one of the most profitable ways to mine cryptocurrency in Russia. In Gazprom Neft’s case, all parties came out ahead. The spread of similar projects in Russia is hindered by regulatory uncertainty surrounding the mining industry. Therefore, one can say that the amount of experience gained outweighs the bitcoins mined”, commented miner Alexander Grigoryev.

Earlier in December, ForkLog published a special project on bitcoin mining at an oil field, ‘Oil, Gas and Bitcoins’.

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