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Exploiting Microbes in the Petroleum Field: Analyzing the Credibility of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR)

Authors :
Yung-Hun Yang
Vivek Rangarajan
Marzuqa Quraishi
Sanjeet Mehariya
Sunita Varjani
Shashi Kant Bhatia
Dibyajit Lahiri
Piyush Kumar Gupta
Soumya Pandit
Source :
Energies, Vol 14, Iss 4684, p 4684 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2021.

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.

Details

ISSN :
19961073
Volume :
14
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Energies
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....fa8c0cb574d4ff0d7e5972f9975f5aa5
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/en14154684