Unblock的豪赌：Vaca Muerta的伴生气可以为数据中心供电，然后是AI

做的是什么生意

Unblock builds modular data centers on oil fields in Argentina's Vaca Muerta that run on natural gas that would otherwise be flared, using the electricity for bitcoin mining today and aiming at AI compute next.

启动资金：US$25M invested in two projects to date; a US$13.5M round in July 2025 led by Goldcrest Capital and Collaborative Fund, with FJ Labs, NYDIG, Luxor Technology, Sunna Ventures, Pampa Energía and Grupo Sielecki.

起因

Ocampo founded Unblock in May 2022 after seeing Vaca Muerta's oil boom produce more gas than pipelines could carry, so producers flared it. He bet that modular data centers at the wellhead could turn that waste gas into electricity for compute — a market failure for oil companies, an energy bargain for miners.

经过

Unblock invested US$25M in two sites: 12 MW at Tecpetrol's Los Toldos II Este and 3 MW at Pluspetrol's Loma Jarillosa Este. Its 12 containerized data centers each draw 1 MW, and eight generators burn 50,000–60,000 cubic meters of gas a day. In July 2025 it raised US$13.5M led by Goldcrest Capital and Collaborative Fund to double capacity, claiming 142,000 tonnes of CO₂ avoided per year — roughly the emissions of 43,000 cars a day.

结果

Unblock operates what it calls the world's second-largest computing fleet on oil-field installations and said it would double processing capacity by September 2025. The company is hiring to double its 13-person team and plans to move beyond bitcoin toward AI data centers, betting Argentina's energy and climate conditions open a regional compute window within four to five years.

可借鉴之处

Unblock从市场失灵中获利，而不是等待基础设施：当不值得修建管道时，把计算搬到能源旁边，而不是把能源运到计算处。