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Hydrocarbon Degradation in Petroleum Reservoirs

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Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology

Abstract:

In-reservoir petroleum biodegradation has resulted in vast deposits of heavy oil around the globe. Extraction of heavy oil is more costly and less efficient than conventional oil production and consequently oil biodegradation on geological timescales has significant economic and environmental impacts. The processes that have led to the biodegradation of oil in situ have only recently begun to be elucidated and we have at best a qualitative understanding of the factors that promote oil biodegradation in petroleum reservoirs. A synthesis of current thinking on the mechanisms of, and controls on, in-reservoir oil biodegradation is presented. This is placed in the context of oil-field microbiology and used to identify potentially fruitful avenues of research required to fill some of the gaps in our knowledge.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the members of the BACCHUS 2 biodegradation consortium which supported much of the work reported here. Bacchus members are Agip ENI, BP/Amoco, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, Norsk Hydro, Petrobras, Saudi Aramco, Shell, Statoil, Total, and Woodside. We also acknowledge support from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC); Alberta Ingenuity Fund (AIF Scholarships to SRL, JJA), National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC); Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    I. M. Head, N. D. Gray, A. Sherry, C. M. Aitken, D. M. Jones & A. K. Rowan

  2. Petroleum Reservoir Group, Department of Geology and Geophysics and Alberta Ingenuity Center for In situ Energy, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    S. R. Larter, J. J. Adams & H. Huang

  3. Department of Molecular Cell Physiology, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrieje University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    W. F. M. Röling

Authors
  1. I. M. Head
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  2. S. R. Larter
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  3. N. D. Gray
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  4. A. Sherry
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  5. J. J. Adams
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  6. C. M. Aitken
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  7. D. M. Jones
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  8. A. K. Rowan
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  9. H. Huang
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  10. W. F. M. Röling
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Inhoffenstrasse 7, 38124, Braunschweig, Germany

    Kenneth N. Timmis (Professor) (Professor)

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© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Head, I.M. et al. (2010). Hydrocarbon Degradation in Petroleum Reservoirs. In: Timmis, K.N. (eds) Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-77587-4_232

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