The Use of Microorganisms to Enhance Oil Recovery

Microbial-enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is the use of microorganisms to increase the recovery of oil from existing oil reservoirs. There are nearly 400 US patents dealing with MEOR, some of which add microorganisms to nearly depleted oil reservoirs while others rely on the indigenous microorganisms. The patent literature is reviewed and two successful field trials by the author are described. A completed field trial using microbial permeability profile modification (MPPM) in a field using waterflooding as the secondary method of oil recovery was proven to recover over 360,000 bbl of oil since 2004 and is predicted to recover another 230,000 bbl of oil by 2018. A second field trial using MPPM is being employed in a field with a petroliferous formation at 115°C. The field is undergoing CO2 flooding as the secondary recovery method and MPPM has been proven to produce extra oil from five surrounding wells.

[1]  M. Magot,et al.  Indigenous Microorganisms in Connate Water of Many Oil Fields: A New Tool in Exploration and Production Techniques , 1992 .

[2]  Lewis R. Brown,et al.  The utilization of the microflora indigenous to and present in oil-bearing formations to selectively plug the more porous zones thereby increasing oil recovery during waterflooding, Class 1 , 2000 .

[3]  J. Costerton,et al.  Nutrient Resuscitation and Growth of Starved Cells in Sandstone Cores: a Novel Approach to Enhanced Oil Recovery , 1988, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[4]  F. L. Lynch,et al.  Improvement of Carbon Dioxide Sweep Efficiency by Utilization of Microbial Permeability Profile Modification to Reduce the Amount of Oil Bypassed During Carbon Dioxide Flood , 2010 .

[5]  Roy M. Knapp,et al.  Microbially Enhanced Oil Recovery Technologies: A Review of the Past, Present and Future , 2007 .

[6]  F. G. Ferris,et al.  Ch. F-6 Microbial Selective Plugging to Control Water Channeling , 1991 .

[7]  D. Lovley,et al.  Extending the Upper Temperature Limit for Life , 2003, Science.

[8]  L. Brown,et al.  Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). , 2010, Current opinion in microbiology.

[9]  G. Philippi.  On the depth, time and mechanism of origin of the heavy to medium-gravity naphthenic crude oils , 1977 .

[10]  F. Widdel,et al.  Anaerobic bacterial metabolism of hydrocarbons , 1998 .

[11]  P. Farrimond,et al.  Biodegradation of oil in uplifted basins prevented by deep-burial sterilization , 2001, Nature.

[12]  K. McLean,et al.  A systematic survey for thermophilic fermentative bacteria and archaea in high temperature petroleum reservoirs , 1996 .

[13]  D. Jones,et al.  Anaerobic hydrocarbon biodegradation in deep subsurface oil reservoirs , 2004, Nature.

[14]  T. Yen,et al.  Interaction of Escherichia coli B and B/4 and Bacteriophage T4D with Berea Sandstone Rock in Relation to Enhanced Oil Recovery , 1984, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[15]  D. Updegraff,et al.  Microbiology in the petroleum industry. , 1954, Bacteriological reviews.

[16]  K. Stetter,et al.  Hyperthermophiles in the history of life , 2006, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[17]  W. Röling,et al.  The microbiology of hydrocarbon degradation in subsurface petroleum reservoirs: perspectives and prospects. , 2003, Research in microbiology.

[18]  A. A. Vadie,et al.  Examination of thirteen petroliferous formations for hydrocarbon-utilizing sulfate-reducing microorganisms , 1996, Journal of Industrial Microbiology.

[19]  J. Suflita,et al.  Anaerobic Oxidation of n-Dodecane by an Addition Reaction in a Sulfate-Reducing Bacterial Enrichment Culture , 2000, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.