Production-related petroleum microbiology: progress and prospects

Microbial activity in oil reservoirs is common. Methanogenic consortia hydrolyze low molecular weight components to methane and CO2, transforming light oil to heavy oil to bitumen. The presence of sulfate in injection water causes sulfate-reducing bacteria to produce sulfide. This souring can be reversed by nitrate, stimulating nitrate-reducing bacteria. Removing biogenic sulfide is important, because it contributes to pitting corrosion and resulting pipeline failures. Increased water production eventually makes oil production uneconomic. Microbial fermentation products can lower oil viscosity or interfacial tension and produced biomass can block undesired flow paths to produce more oil. These biotechnologies benefit from increased understanding of reservoir microbial ecology through new sequence technologies and help to decrease the environmental impact of oil production.