1. Exploiting Microbes in the Petroleum Field: Analyzing the Credibility of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR)
- Author
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Yung-Hun Yang, Vivek Rangarajan, Marzuqa Quraishi, Sanjeet Mehariya, Sunita Varjani, Shashi Kant Bhatia, Dibyajit Lahiri, Piyush Kumar Gupta, and Soumya Pandit
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Technology ,microbial metabolic by-products ,Microbial metabolic by-products ,Petroleum biotechnology ,Materialkemi ,Microbial system ,010501 environmental sciences ,01 natural sciences ,biosurfactants ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) ,Numerical simulation and modelling ,Kemiska processer ,Credibility ,Materials Chemistry ,Reservoir dynamics ,microbial metabolic pathways ,microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) ,petroleum biotechnology ,Crude oil ,Microbial enhanced oil recovery ,Petroleum ,Indigenous microorganisms ,Energy source ,Control and Optimization ,Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap ,Energy Engineering and Power Technology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Microbial metabolic pathways ,Species properties ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,crude oil ,Engineering (miscellaneous) ,Field trials ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment ,business.industry ,030104 developmental biology ,Petroleum industry ,chemistry ,Biosurfactants ,Chemical Process Engineering ,Environmental science ,Biochemical engineering ,business ,Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences ,Energy (miscellaneous) - Abstract
Crude oil is a major energy source that is exploited globally to achieve economic growth. To meet the growing demands for oil, in an environment of stringent environmental regulations and economic and technical pressure, industries have been required to develop novel oil salvaging techniques. The remaining ~70% of the world’s conventional oil (one-third of the available total petroleum) is trapped in depleted and marginal reservoirs, and could thus be potentially recovered and used. The only means of extracting this oil is via microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). This tertiary oil recovery method employs indigenous microorganisms and their metabolic products to enhance oil mobilization. Although a significant amount of research has been undertaken on MEOR, the absence of convincing evidence has contributed to the petroleum industry’s low interest, as evidenced by the issuance of 400+ patents on MEOR that have not been accepted by this sector. The majority of the world’s MEOR field trials are briefly described in this review. However, the presented research fails to provide valid verification that the microbial system has the potential to address the identified constraints. Rather than promising certainty, MEOR will persist as an unverified concept unless further research and investigations are carried out.
- Published
- 2021
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