Might MARA (previously Marathon Digital) be in exploratory talks with Exxon Mobil and Saudi Aramco to colocate Bitcoin mining models at oilfields, straight tapping flare-gas for energy?
Crypto Twitter thinks it’s doable, and if confirmed, the partnership might turbocharge the dimensions and legitimacy of gas-to-Bitcoin operations, turning waste methane right into a monetized digital asset whereas addressing ESG considerations.
MARA inventory pumper Cryptoklepto thinks, “It’s extra doubtless than not that not less than one among these situations performs out within the subsequent 6 to 12 months for $MARA.”
Whereas not one of the corporations have formally introduced a deal, MARA CEO Fred Thiel hinted at “discussions with a few of the largest vitality corporations on the earth” on Could’s earnings name, including that “chunks of flare-gas era” will quickly come on-line the place we’re in a position to deploy our Bitcoin mining operations.
The timing aligns with Aramco’s Could 2025 announcement of 34 new MoUs with U.S. companies and follows Exxon’s earlier pilot with Crusoe Power in North Dakota.
Pilot-Confirmed, Able to Scale
MARA isn’t ranging from scratch. In late 2024, it launched a 25-megawatt pilot in Texas utilizing stranded shale fuel, avoiding grid competitors whereas qualifying for methane abatement credit. “The AI guys are ready to pay nearly any worth for vitality,” Thiel advised Reuters. “Bringing crypto-mining to the uncooked energy provide lets us keep away from that combat.”
The corporate’s cell, plug-and-play infrastructure is tailored for oilfields. These transportable modules convert in any other case flared methane into electrical energy, which is then used to mine Bitcoin, a course of that Exxon and Crusoe demonstrated at scale by diverting 18 million cubic ft of fuel monthly and slicing CO₂-equivalent emissions by as much as 63%.
Saudi Aramco has beforehand denied any intention to mine Bitcoin. In 2021, the corporate labeled such studies “false and inaccurate.”
Nevertheless, MARA’s Thiel not too long ago claimed the agency has 4–5 gigawatts of extra capability, a scale that would energy tens of hundreds of mining rigs. If even a small portion had been redirected, it might surpass the full output of many standalone crypto services.
Exxon, in the meantime, has the institutional reminiscence and knowledge from its two-year Crusoe pilot, which might make fast-tracking a brand new enterprise with MARA much less speculative than it appears.
Why Now? A Confluence of Stress and Alternative
Behind the scenes, regulatory momentum is constructing. A U.S. methane emissions price beneath the Inflation Discount Act kicks on this 12 months, pushing oil producers to search out methods to cut back or monetize their emissions. Flare-gas mining gives a low-capex, high-upside path to compliance, notably when paired with carbon offset markets.
Additional, payments have been authorized in Texas particularly to encourage Bitcoin mining utilizing flare fuel.
On the similar time, Bitcoin miners are grappling with compressed margins following the April 2025 halving. MARA, one of many business’s largest listed gamers, produced 950 BTC in Could however should now aggressively pursue sub-$0.03/kWh vitality sources to stay aggressive. Flare-gas, as soon as a fringe vitality enter, might grow to be a post-halving lifeline.
Skepticism stays warranted. No SEC filings, public agreements, or official feedback verify the Exxon or Aramco partnerships. Given Aramco’s previous denial, any shift in stance would doubtless contain months of allowing, infrastructure build-out, and reputational calculus.
If oil majors greenlight Bitcoin mining on the wellhead, the flare-gas dialog will shift from “can it work?” to “how briskly can it scale?” MARA, with its turnkey modules and Wall Road footprint, could also be first in line.
What to Watch
- Public filings or MoUs from Exxon, Aramco, or MARA confirming pilot collaborations.
- Power regulator responses to flare-gas mining amid the methane price rollout.
- Q3 manufacturing updates: MARA’s vitality prices and BTC yield per website.
- Neighborhood pushback round noise and emissions from MARA’s Texas flare website.
“You’re going to search out is a mixture of thermal, a mixture of wind, photo voltaic and a few flare fuel. It actually relies upon in the marketplace and the companion.
We’re in discussions with a few of the largest vitality corporations on the earth which have a mixture of all these vitality sources and nuclear.
With reference to flare fuel, there are a whole lot of fuel belongings all over the world which can be very relevant to this technique…
And what I believe you’ll see us doing increasingly more sooner or later is as we proceed to work with particularly oil and fuel producers, you’ll see chunks of this flare fuel kind era come on-line in several components of the world the place we’re in a position to deploy our Bitcoin mining operations, as a strategy to monetize that stranded fuel. And we’re tremendous enthusiastic about these alternatives.”
—Fred Thiel, MARA CEO
This story is creating. CryptoSlate will replace as extra particulars emerge.
