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How Specific Microbial Communities Benefit the Oil Industry: Microbial-Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR)

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Applied Microbiology and Molecular Biology in Oilfield Systems
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Abstract

Microbial-enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) involves injecting into the oil-saturated layer microbes and/nutrients to create the in situ production of metabolic products or nutrients to stimulate indigenous microbes. The purposes of MEOR are to increase oil production, decrease the water cut and prolong the productive life of the oilfield. The most probable targets of MEOR are reservoirs that have reached the limits of oil production by injection of water to displace oil (Donaldson and Obeida, 1991). MEOR is the cheapest approach of oil recovery after water flooding. MEOR investigations have been conducted all over the world and resulted in many successful field applications in the USA, UK, China, Russia, Malaysia, Germany, Romania, Poland and others.

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Correspondence to Svetlana Rudyk .

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Rudyk, S., Søgaard, E. (2010). How Specific Microbial Communities Benefit the Oil Industry: Microbial-Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR). In: Whitby, C., Skovhus, T. (eds) Applied Microbiology and Molecular Biology in Oilfield Systems. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9252-6_21

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