they do say themselves that it , actually , reduces the costs of the oil extraction due to reducing natural gas output below goverment regulation :
“It was the best option for us… We’re using it to bring ourselves below the government-regulated amount that we can vent on location and keep producing oil”
this is good for them , but instead of mining bitcoins and investing into the mining rigs
they could have thought of a different scenario , guess mining bitcoins was the cheapest solution in their case
here it is more of "lets comply with the goverment's regulations on natural gas and keep our oil extraction 24/7 , while we mine some coins on the side "
rather than gaining profit from bitcoin mining
I am a cycnic. I reckon it would be cheapest for them to pay a corrupt regulator from the government to leave them alone hehehe.
In any case, why fix the problem by making another problem?
Also, does the oil company have the infrastructure to convert the natural gas to electricity or will that be another problem?