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 turn into one of many nation’s first “oil-to-crypto” monetization tasks.
The transfer might generate early money circulate from wells that will in any other case stay undeveloped, the corporate said on Thursday in an operations report.
The challenge 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 information facilities.
Underneath a non-binding letter of intent, the businesses goal to deploy 360’s In-Subject Computing expertise to start mining Bitcoin straight on the West Newton A website, topic to regulatory approvals.
If profitable, the brand new challenge might additionally result in Union Jack “introducing a brand new Bitcoin Treasury strategy,” in keeping with Government 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 because of planning delays and regulatory uncertainty, which have slowed the event of infrastructure wanted to deliver the gasoline to market.
“Regulatory uncertainty has unduly hampered progress,” Bramhill stated, saying that tasks like West Newton have suffered from a notion drawback regardless of their industrial attraction.
As an alternative 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 improvement timelines.
“Onshore builders and producers have been pressured to assume outdoors the field to make progress and ship development,” Bramhill stated. He described the proposed Bitcoin mining enterprise as “revolutionary” and providing “robust 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 sources. Many oil and gasoline corporations are experimenting with Bitcoin mining to monetize stranded or flared gasoline that will 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 provide excess gas to Bitcoin miners reasonably than flare it.
In Argentina, oil agency Tecpetrol started utilizing leftover gas from its drilling operations to run mining rigs after going through 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.
Magazine: How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025
