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Microbial activity in the development of oil and gas: a cultivation-independent method

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Abstract

With the rapid development of molecular biologic techniques in studies of soil samples, the surface microbial abnormalities are commonly applied as an important biological indicator for oil and gas prospecting. However, the detection of the surface microbial abnormalities involves complex bacterial microbial cultivation processes, which is usually culture dependent, expensive, and time consuming and usually focused on the methane-oxidizing bacteria. In this study, a new experimental process for the purification and recovery of DNA and a culture-independent quantitative analysis method are proposed to extract important associations of the enrichment degree of propane-oxidizing bacteria with existence of hydrocarbon reserve. The proposed methods are applied in Bamianhe oilfield and the results show that the propane-oxidizing bacteria could be a significant indicator for oil and gas prospecting by an established microbial anomalous reference system in this paper. This work could provide some new insights towards the application of oil and gas microbial exploration method.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Exploration Technologies for Oil and Gas Resources, Ministry of Education, Yangtze University, Wuhan, 430100, Hubei, China

    Zhihua Yuan & ·Yuqing Zhang

  2. Institute of Mud Logging Technology and Engineering, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, 434023, Hubei, China

    Zhihua Yuan

  3. China University of Geosciences Beijing, School of Energy Resources, Beijing, 100083, China

    ·Bhekumuzi Mgijimi Mahlalela

Authors
  1. Zhihua Yuan
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  2. ·Yuqing Zhang
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  3. ·Bhekumuzi Mgijimi Mahlalela
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Correspondence to ·Yuqing Zhang.

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Responsible Editor: Santanu Banerjee

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Yuan, Z., Zhang, ·. & Mahlalela, ·.M. Microbial activity in the development of oil and gas: a cultivation-independent method. Arab J Geosci 15, 1091 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-10322-z

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