Union Jack Oil, a publicly traded UK vitality firm, has introduced plans to transform pure gasoline from its West Newton website into electrical energy to energy Bitcoin mining, marking what might grow to be one of many nation’s first “oil-to-crypto” monetization tasks.
The transfer might generate early money move from wells that may in any other case stay undeveloped, the corporate said on Thursday in an operations report.
The undertaking is being pursued in partnership with Rathlin Power and Texas-based 360 Power, which makes a speciality of turning stranded or flared gasoline into energy for on-site knowledge facilities.
Underneath a non-binding letter of intent, the businesses intention to deploy 360’s In-Discipline Computing know-how to start mining Bitcoin straight on the West Newton A website, topic to regulatory approvals.
If profitable, the brand new undertaking might additionally result in Union Jack “introducing a brand new Bitcoin Treasury strategy,” in accordance with Govt Chairman David Bramhill.
West Newton: Found however nonetheless undeveloped
Union Jack Oil acquired its stake in West Newton in 2019, after operator Rathlin Power struck gasoline on the website. Additional drilling within the following years positioned it among the many largest onshore gasoline discoveries within the UK.
Nonetheless, the positioning stays on maintain attributable to planning delays and regulatory uncertainty, which have slowed the event of infrastructure wanted to carry the gasoline to market.
“Regulatory uncertainty has unduly hampered progress,” Bramhill stated, saying that tasks like West Newton have suffered from a notion downside regardless of their industrial attraction.
As a substitute of ready for full-scale approvals and infrastructure, Union Jack plans to make use of the gasoline on-site to energy Bitcoin mining rigs, producing early income with out counting on conventional growth timelines.
“Onshore builders and producers have been compelled to assume outdoors the field to make progress and ship progress,” Bramhill stated. He described the proposed Bitcoin mining enterprise as “revolutionary” and providing “sturdy scope for a sustainable return.”
A shift in how vitality is monetized
Union Jack Oil’s mining initiative is a part of a broader shift in how vitality firms take into consideration underused assets. Many oil and gasoline companies are experimenting with Bitcoin mining to monetize stranded or flared gasoline that may in any other case be wasted.
The model is to transform gasoline into electrical energy on-site and use it to energy mining rigs, avoiding the delays and prices of connecting to grids or constructing pipelines. Specialised suppliers like 360 Power and Crusoe have been engaged on making this method modular and scalable.
The technique is being deployed elsewhere. Within the US state of North Dakota, ConocoPhillips launched a pilot program to produce excess gas to Bitcoin miners relatively than flare it.
In Argentina, oil agency Tecpetrol started utilizing leftover gas from its drilling operations to run mining rigs after dealing with limits on how a lot it might launch into the atmosphere.
And in June 2025, Canadian firm AgriFORCE launched an operation in Alberta that harnesses stranded pure gasoline to energy 120 Bitcoin mining rigs, with plans to increase to 2 extra websites.
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