MICROBIOLOGY IN THE OIL PATCH: A REVIEW

D. LEE D. LOWE P. GRANT

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THE PETROLEUM SOCIETY PAPER 96-109 Microbiology in the Oil Patch: A Review D. Lee, D. Lowe, P Grant Hycal Environmental Sciences This paper is to be presented at the 47th Annual Technical Meeting of The Petroleum Society in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 10 - 12, 1996. Discussion of this paper is invited and may be presented at the meeting if
filed in writing with the technical program chairman prior to the conclusion of the meeting. This paper and any discussion filed will be considered for publication in CIM journals. Publication rights are reserved. This is a pre-print and is subject to correction. ABSTRACT applications for biological systems are reviewed. Some of the topics addressed include: microbial With the reality of our
depleting natural resources. enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). bacterial scientists and engineers are working to maximize the contribution to reduced fluid injectivity, biological potentials of existing oil fields while minimizing exploration techniques. reservoir souring, sour ecological impacts. All divisions within the oil Produced water treatments. microbial induced patch are currentlv investigating the diverse and vast
corrosion. bioprocessing of fossil fuels. and potential bacteria have for industry. Current environmental remediation and site reclamation applications include, oil and gas exploration, applications. microbial enhanced secondary oil recovery techniques. minimization of microbial induced EXPLORATION corrosion and reservoir souring. bioprocessing of fossil fuels. and environmental applications. This
Microbial surveys have been successfully used to paper will discuss recent advances and reference predict locations of oil and gas reserves (1.2). In pertinent. sources. general these techniques measure signature microbial populations which are often associated INTRODUCTION with anomalous hydrocarbon microseepage
from oil and gas reservoirs. One method used is called the Biological systems have a significant role in the Microbial C)il Survey Technique (MOST) developed petroleum industry. An understanding of the by Phillips Petroleum. In this method anomalous positive and negative impacts of these systems can hvdrocarbon seeps are identified by observing drive management decisions in
all levels of the fluctuations in microbial population and distribution industry from exploration through production. within a survey area (1). refining. and eventual site closure and reclamation. INJECTIVITY PROBLEMS This document provides an overview of some important impacts biotic systems are having in the In the late 50's and early 60's a great deal of
literature was published on wellbore plugging as a oil-patch. and how these systems are being harnessed result of bacterial growth. Bacteria produce high or controlled. In addition, several innovative molecular weight polysaccharide polymers which are
 · 'L:

THE PETROLEUM SOCIETY PAPER 96-109

-.;

Microbiology in the Oil Patch: A Review

D. Lee, D. Lowe, P. Grant

Hycal Environmental Sciences

This paper is to be presented at the 47th Annual Technical Meeting of The Petroleum Society in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Ju~e 10- 1.2,
1996. Discussion of this paper is invited and may be presented at the meeting if filed in writing with the technical program chairman pnor
to the conclusion of the meeting. This paper and any discussion filed will be considered for pUblication in CIM journals. Publication rights
are reserved. This is a pre-print and is subject to correction.

ABSTRACT applications for biological systems are reviewed.

With the reality of our depleting natnral resources.
scientists and engineers are working to maximize the
potentials of existing oil fields while minimizing
ecological impacts. All divisions within the oil
patch are currently investigating the diverse and vast
potential bacteria have for industry. Current
applications include: oil and gas exploration.
microbial enhanced seconda!)' oil recovery
techniques. minimization of microbial induced
corrosion and reservoir souring. bioprocessing of
fossil fuels. and environmental applications. This
paper will discuss recent advances and reference
pertinent sources.
INTRODUCTION
Biological systems have a significant role in the
petroleum induslIy. An understanding of the
positive and negative impacts of these systems can
drive management decisions in all levels of the
indust!)· from exploration through production.
refining. and eventnal site closure and reclamation.
This document provides an overview of some
important impacts biotic systems are having in the
oil-patch. and how these systems are being harnessed
or controlled. In addition. several innovative
Some of the topics addressed include: microbial
enhanced oil recoverv (MEOR). bacterial
contribution to reduced fluid injectivity. biological
exploration techniques. reservoir souring. sour
produced water treatments. microbial induced
corrosion. bioprocessing of fossil fuels. and
environmental remediation and site reclamation
applications.
EXPLORATION
Microbial surveys have been successfully used to
predict locations of oil and gas reserves (1.2). In
general these techniques measure signature
microbial populations which are often associated
with anomalous hydrocarbon microseepage from oil
and gas reservoirs. One method used is called the
Microbial Oil Survey Technique (MOST) developed
by Phillips Petroleum. In this method anomalous
hydrocarbon seeps are identified by observing
fluctnations in microbial population and distribution
within a survey area (I).
INJECTIVITY PROBLEMS
In the late 50's and early 60's a great deal of
literature was published on wellbore plugging as a
result of bacterial growth. Bacteria produce high
molecular weight polysaccharide polymers which are
deposited by biofilms grm,·ing on the surface of a
formation. This polymer deposition can cause a
tremendous reduction in well injectiYity. Several
earl' publications link biofilm grm,th to reduced
fluid if\iecti'ity of wells (3.4.5). Out of this
de"e1oped the popular but impractical theory that
reselyoirs should be formaldehyde flushed to kill the
bacteria. particularly the Sulfate Reducing Bacteria
(SRB).
MICROBIAL ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY
There are four primary processes that contribute to
Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR):
1) Production of Gases- These gases include CO, .
Hz . N, . and CH, Microorganisms down-hole
produce these gases as a result of their natural
metabolic processes. These gases can enhance oil
recovery by increasing the wells internal pressure
and decreasing the Yiscosity of crude oil due to
solubility effects (6.7).
2) Organic Acid Production- Low molecular weight
fatty acids are one of the byproduct of microbial
metabolism. These compounds have application to
MEOR b' their capabilities to increase rock
dissolution and enhance permeability (predominantly
in carbonate formations) (6).
3) Biosurfactant Production- Surfactants are often
extracellular organic molecules produced by bacteria.
In-Situ biosurfactant production is a viable technique
to enhance oil yields by decreasing the interfacial
tension between the oil and water. thus allowing
easier mobilization of the crude oil (6).
4) Microbial Growth and PolYmer Production- This
technique uses biomass and excreted polymers to
selectiYel' plug oil depleted highly permeable zones
within a reseryoir to divert displacing fluids into oil
rich zones (8).
Successful MEOR projects have resulted from a
combination of these processes rather than any
single biological factor.
In general the process has three phases:
I) Bacteria with appropriate surfactant and
pol,mer production capabilities are injected
into the resen'oir.
2) The well is shut in to proYide time for
microbial grmvth and plugging of highly
permeable thief zones.
3) Fluid injection is resumed.
It is now believed that the greatest potential for
MEOR will be in impro,ing the methods for
plugging highly permeable water swept zones with
biomass and polymers excreted in-situ. These
methods are generally referred to as bacterial profile
modification (BPM). One BPM method injects
bacteria (Leuconostoc mesonteroides) into the
reservoir followed bv injection of a sucrose solution.
The sucrose initiates the production of the
polysaccharide dextran. which irreversibly binds to
porous media (9). Early attempts at BPM were
unsuccessful because of poor bacteria penetration
through highly permeable zones. This resulted in
polymer plugs which were too shallow and rapidl,'
bypassed during water injection. Researchcrs ha\'c
overcome this problem by using ultra microbacteria
(UMB) which are indigenous strains of bacteria from
the field in question. which are starved of nutrients
until the cells are a fraction of their original size.
The UMB are now able to penetrate deep into the
formation after which they are chased with nutrients.
The nutrients stimulate growth returning the
organisms to normal size and triggering
polysaccharide production a considerable distance
from the wellbore(lO).
RESERVOIR SOURING
A common problem encountered in the oil patch is
the bacterial production of hydrogen sulfide (H,S).
This process is commonly associated with projects in
which large volumes of sulphate rich water (ie.
seawater) are being injected. but the introduction and
subsequent growth of SRB can be problematic an,
time a non-biologically treated aqeous based fluid is
introduced into the formation. The process is
mediated by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) which
reduce sulfate in the injection water to HzS. H,S
production is usually limited by injection water
composition and endproduct inhibition although it
has been demonstrated that formation water can also
have a significant contribution (11). In general these
organisms are indigenous to the reservoir. are strict
anaerobes. and accumulate as a biofilm on porous
media (12.13.14). SRB·s use short chain organic
acids (formate. acetate. proponate) which rcsult from
incomplete aerobic oxidation of oil as their major
carbon source.