MICROBIAL ENHANCED

OIL RECOVERY
 CONTENTS
 Introduction
• EOR
• MEOR
 History
 Mechanism
• Stimulation of oil production
• Wellbore cleaning
• Selective plugging
• Biosurfactants
• Microbial products
 Advantages
 Disadvantages
 Environment issues
 Current status
 Future prospects
 Conclusion
 References
 TYPES OF ENHANCED OIL
RECOVERY

• Primary recovery-12% to 15%oil in well

recovered without the need to introduce the
other substances into the well.

• Secondary recovery-The oil well flooded with

water or other substances to drive out additional
15% to 20% more oil from well.
Poor sweeping efficiency
Poor displacement efficiency
TERTIARY OIL RECOVERY
• Known as MICROBIAL ENHANCED OIL
RECOVERY ,use of microorganisms to
additional recover up to 11% more oil from well.
Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery
• MEOR is use of microorganisms to retrieve
additional oil from existing well thereby
enhancing oil production from oil reservior.

• Selected microorganisms are introduced into oil

wells to produce harmless product such as
natural substances or gases which propel the oil
out of well.
 HISTORY

• 1936 Beckman proposed the utilisation of

microbes for enhanced oil recovery.
• 1947 Zobell released oil from strata rocks
using Desulfovibrio sp.
• 1954 Kuznetsov inoculated molasses
enriched media and observed the
gas production.
• 1958 Heinningen proposed the selective
plugging with microbial produced biomass
 contd…

• 1977 Yakinov observed the strain of

Bacillus licheniformis JF-2 in
enhancement of oil recovery.
• 1983 Bubela examined the effects of
reservior env.conditions on
microbial culture.
• 2004 McInemey examined the 200 strains of
Bacillus sp.in oil enhancement.
 MECHANISMS OF MEOR
• Stimulation of oil production.
• Wellbore cleaning.
• Selective plugging
• Production of Biosurfactants.
• Microbial Products
MICROORGANISMS
• Desulfovibrio sp.
• Bacillus sp.
• Clostridium sp.
• Pseudomonas sp.
• Arthrobacter sp.
• Microbacterium sp.
 STIMULATION OF OIL
PRODUCTION
• Partial repressurisation of reservior by methane
and carbon dioxide.
• Reduction of oil viscosity through dissolution of
organic solvents in oil phase.
• Increase of reservior permeability and widening
of fissures and channels through etching of
carbaneous rocks.
 WELLBORE CLEANING
• Cleaning of wellbore region by Increasing the
average pore size.
• Various metabolites -
• Acids - react with various minerals,loosen
the clay and deposits.
• Solvents - dissolve the precipitated
organic deposits.
• Biogas – push oil from dead spaces and
dislodge debris.
 SELECTIVE PLUGGING
Selective plugging of highly permeable zones by
injecting slime forming
microorganisms,increases the sweeping
efficiency and oil recovery.
 BIOSURFACTANTS
Biosurfactants are microbially derived surface
active agents that can lower the surface tension
of oil and act as slippery detergents helping the
oil move more freely away from rocks and more
easily out of well.
Arthrobacter sp. Trehalose,sucrose,
lipids,fructose
Bacillus licheniformis Lipopeptides
Bacillus subtilis Surfactin
Candida lipolytica Sophorose lipid
Corneybacterium lepus Fatty acids
Nocardia sp. Neutral lipid
Pseudomonas sp. Glycolipid
Rhodococcus sp.H13-A Glycolipid
Torulopsis bombicola Sophorose lipid
Xanthomonas Xanthan
compestris
 ADVANTAGES
• Biodegradibility
• Low toxicity
• Environment friendliness.
 MICROBIAL PRODUCTS
INCREASING OIL RECOVERY
Selective plugging.
Biomass Modification of solid
surface.
Reduction of oil
viscosity.
Alternation in flow
properties.
BIOGAS
Increase the High energy
Carbon pressure potential in oil
dioxide(80%) field

Increase oil Give better oil

Hydrogen(20%) volume, mobilisation
decrease oil
viscosity

Methane Change pressure Increase oil

potential in production rate
fissures,pores
ORGANIC ACIDS

Acetic acid, Decrease pH up to Increase

propanoic acid, 4.8 permeability of
rocks
valerianic acid

Dissolve
Dissolve the carbonate partially
carbonate rock building up new
flow channels
Methane, Decreases Forces the imbibition of
ethanol, interfacial injected,fermented
tension molasses media into
propanol,
pore canals to give
butanol more oil from rock

Increase wettability
Biolipid Alter the rock break oil/water barriers
creating emulsion
leading to improved flow
rate
 ADVANTAGES OF MEOR
• Cheap
• Environmentally acceptable alternative.
• Ability to grow on low cost nutrients.
• Small size help them to penetrate deep into oil
wells enhancing oil recovery.
• Do not consume large amount of energy.
 DISADVANTAGES OF MEOR
• Need a standardized framework for evaluating
microbial activity.
• Exogenous microbes require facilities for
cultivation.
• Oxygen deployed in aerobic MEOR act as
corrosive agent on non resistant equipments
and pipelines.
• Plugging of reservoirs due to aggregation of cell
mass or precipitation of metabolites.
 ENVIRONMENT ISSUES

(A) Subsurface water

Migration of organism or metabolites into groundwater.
(B) Waste water
Spent fluids due to additional drilling.
Equipment washing.
Media and Chemicals used for pH adjustment.
(C) Atmospheric emission
Hydrogen sulphide production.
(D) Solid wastes
Bacteria in filter solids.
 CURRENT STATUS
• TITAN INC.-Changing the skin surface of
microbes to induce a unique oleophilic activity
which dislodges and breakdown oil droplets and
create natural emulsion.

• New project at Daquing field in CHINA to

change the structure of polymers to strengthen
their ability to break down the long carbon
chains of high density crude oil.
 Contd….

• TERI,Delhi and ONGC,Gujarat – Development

of Thermophilic paraffin degrading strain
consortium S 2 for prevention of paraffin
deposition inside the oil well tubing.
 BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MEOR
• MEOR is direct application of Biotechnology.Use
of Genetic engineering and Recombinant DNA
technology to develop the strains of bacteria
with oil recovery traits and susceptibility to
adverse conditions.

• Recombinant strain of Bacillus mojavensis JF-

2,RrB-2 having high efficiency.
 FUTURE PROSPECTS
• To Develop the strains of Bacteria which are
better able to survive harsh conditions in oil well
but still retain the ability to carry out the
chemistry needed for MEOR.

• To develop the microorganism that can not only

live in high temperature of an oil well but also
subsist on inexpensive nutrients,remain
chemically active.
 Contd…

• To develop the Bacteria that can be grown on

inexpensive agricultural waste materials which is
abundant in supply and is environmentally
friendly.
 CONCLUSION
• MEOR reduces or eliminates the need to use the
harsh chemicals during oil drilling .MEOR will
become increasingly economically feasible as
genetic engineering develops.

• Methods for developing and growing MEOR

bacteria are improving, lowering the production
cost making it more attractive alternative to
traditional chemical methods.
 REFERENCES
• Belyaev S.S,Borzenkov I.A,Ibatullin T.N, May
17,2004 Use of microorganisms in
Biotechnology for enhancement of oil
recovery,Microbiology,vol 73(5):pg 590-598
• Jang L.K, Yen T.F. 1990 ,Mechanism of MEOR
In MEOR Principle and practice :pg 158-163
• Microbial enhanced oil recovery,retrieved May
5,2002 from Environmental Biotechnologies
inc.www.e-b-t.com/meor.htm
• www.abc.edu/chyn/lect/lect-11 htm
• http//findarticals.com/p/articals/mi_m3159
• http.//wikipedia.org/wiki/MEOR