On October 2, YPF announced that the YPF Luz, a subsidiary of Argentina's state-owned energy firm YPF, is supplying power to an undisclosed international crypto mining company. 

The sustainable energy arm of YPF – YPF Luz – 3 months ago initiated a 1-megawatt (MW) pilot operation that gives power generated from waste gas left over from oil production, Martín Mandarano, YPF Luz CEO told the national news agency Télam. 

Taking advantage of flare or residual gas to power bitcoin mining operations is the moto of YPF Luz’s pilot project. This project, which has been running for quite a long time in southern Argentina, in a large area known for its shale oil and gas resources called Vaca Muerta (Dead Cow), looks to take advantage of this gas so that it doesn’t get burned. 

The gas in these oil fields can't be taken to other sites to be utilized, so the only way is to bring interested parties to the zone. The company has already many customers who will pay for on-site produced power, with generators installed during the oil well drilling phase. 

The CEO of YPF Luz stated, “This first pilot, which is already operating, operates with 1 [megawatt] of generation and a second project is being developed simultaneously to start operating before the end of the year, with about 8 MW, in the Bajo del Toro area.” 

The company intends to open a second pilot – this one 8MW in size – before the year's end, Mandarano said. 

“We started to develop this generation pilot for cryptocurrency mining with a vision of sustainability and business from flare natural gas, which cannot be harnessed during exploration and at the beginning of the production of an oil field,” Mandarano added.