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

Marzuqa Quraishi, Shashi Kant Bhatia, Soumya Pandit, Piyush Kumar Gupta, Vivek Rangarajan, Dibyajit Lahiri, Sunita Varjani, Sanjeet Mehariya and Yung-Hun Yang
Additional contact information
Marzuqa Quraishi: Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Mumbai 410206, India
Shashi Kant Bhatia: Department of Biological Engineering, College of Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea
Soumya Pandit: Department of Life Sciences, School of Basic Sciences and Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida 201306, India
Piyush Kumar Gupta: Department of Life Sciences, School of Basic Sciences and Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida 201306, India
Vivek Rangarajan: Department of Chemical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Goa Campus, Goa 403726, India
Dibyajit Lahiri: Department of Biotechnology, University of Engineering & Management, Kolkata 700156, India
Sunita Varjani: Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gandhinagar 382010, India
Sanjeet Mehariya: Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden
Yung-Hun Yang: Department of Biological Engineering, College of Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 15, 1-30

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.

Keywords: microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR); crude oil; petroleum biotechnology; microbial metabolic by-products; biosurfactants; microbial metabolic pathways; species properties; reservoir dynamics; field trials; numerical simulation and modelling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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