Brazil's Petrobras to Mine Bitcoin
Date: 2025-01-24 Author: Henry Casey Categories: BUSINESS
Petrobras, a state-owned oil corporation that produces about three million barrels of oil daily, is preparing to introduce Bitcoin mining into its operations. According to Marcelo Curi, a certified blockchain architect and head of the project, the company is in the active research and development phase aimed at creating new business models using tokenization and Web3 technologies. This, he noted, opens up prospects for using innovative approaches to reduce the carbon footprint.
To implement these plans, Petrobras has created a team of specialists from various fields: climate science, oil, and cryptocurrency. Their goal is to study how Bitcoin mining can be integrated into the oil industry and what benefits the transition to new technologies can offer.
Petrobras is not the first company in the energy sector to see potential in Bitcoin mining. In 2022, Exxon Mobil initiated a pilot project to use gas that was previously simply flared to power cryptocurrency mining equipment. The project was implemented in North Dakota and has proven its effectiveness.
Another example is the Argentine company Tecpetrol, which is also involved in Bitcoin mining. At the Vaca Muerta field, it uses by-products of production that were previously considered economically unviable to power equipment.
Petrobras' new move reflects a growing trend among energy giants that see cryptocurrencies not only as an opportunity to diversify revenues, but also as a tool for improving resource efficiency.
