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Oil Recovery: Experiences and Economics of Microbially Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR)

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Book cover Consequences of Microbial Interactions with Hydrocarbons, Oils, and Lipids: Production of Fuels and Chemicals

Part of the book series: Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology ((HHLM))

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Abstract

Decades of laboratory research and field trials of MEOR for a range of reservoirs worldwide have shown some encouraging results. With more effective bacteria and inexpensive nutrients, MEOR has the potential to become an economically feasible and technically viable mainstream component of the EOR portfolio. MEOR potentially offers an environmentally sustainable and cost-effective technology that can reduce or eliminate the need to use harsh chemicals and energy-intensive EOR methods in recovering the vast amounts of oil that remain trapped in aging fields. For example, residual oil in depleted oil reservoirs could be gasified via methanogenic pathway by invoking microbes, an innovative MEOR option. Integrated research programs and rapidly advancing insights into the diversity of microbial life and biochemical cycles have the potential to deliver breakthrough knowledge for understanding the effects of microbes that thrive in petroleum reservoirs in production time scales. At present, MEOR is yet able to provide reliable benefits that the petroleum industry requires from EOR techniques. However, due to the relatively low costs and low environmental impact of this tertiary recovery method, the potential reward for developing and implementing MEOR based on new fundamental understandings in microbiotechnology and reservoir engineering may be enormous.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, Shandong, 266580, China

    Keyu Liu

  2. CSIRO Energy, Kensington, WA, 6151, Australia

    Keyu Liu

  3. State Key Laboratory of EOR, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina, Beijing, 100083, China

    Xiaofang Wei

Authors
  1. Keyu Liu
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  2. Xiaofang Wei
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Correspondence to Keyu Liu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Korea (Republic of)

    Sang Yup Lee

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Liu, K., Wei, X. (2017). Oil Recovery: Experiences and Economics of Microbially Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR). In: Lee, S. (eds) Consequences of Microbial Interactions with Hydrocarbons, Oils, and Lipids: Production of Fuels and Chemicals. Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50436-0_203

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