Proceedings of the symposium on applications of microorganisms to petroleum technology

The interest in applications of microorganisms in petroleum technology results from the potential low cost and versatility of microbial formulations. With recent declines in oil prices, the petroleum industry has needed an oil recovery technology that can be applied in a cost-effective manner to increase production from declining oil fields. Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) methods may be able to increase our recoverable oil reserves when oil prices are such that other methods are not economically attractive. The purpose of this symposium was to review the state-of-the-art in development and application of microbial methods to petroleum technology. The focus of the conference was on application of the technology in the field, particularly by independent petroleum producers. Microorganisms can be thought of as minute factories, which produce certain chemical products when provided with an appropriate feedstock and operating conditions. Laboratory studies are required to select, isolate, and adapt the microbial species with the best properties. Microbial methods are attractive for oil recovery applications because bacteria are self-replicating and therefore inexpensive to produce using inexpensive, readily-available nutrient sources, such as molasses. Furthermore, microbes can be chosen which do not pose a threat to the environment, and in the unlikely event that deleteriousmore » effects are observed from a microbial treatment, the injection of nutrient can be stopped, or a biocide can be injected to mitigate the problem. Through careful design, microbes can produce a diverse spectrum of chemical products under a variety of conditions and are therefore potentially applicable in many different reservoir environments.« less