Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery

Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) is a biological based technology consisting in manipulating function or structure, or both, of microbial environments existing in oil reservoirs. The ultimate aim of MEOR is to improve the recovery of oil entrapped in porous media while increasing economic profits. MEOR is a tertiary oil extraction technology allowing the partial recovery of the commonly residual two-thirds of oil, thus increasing the life of mature oil reservoirs.

MEOR is a multidisciplinary field incorporating, among others: geology, chemistry, microbiology, fluid mechanics, petroleum engineering, environmental engineering and chemical engineering. The microbial processes proceeding in MEOR can be classified according to the oil production problem in the field:

  • well bore clean up removes mud and other debris blocking the channels where oil flows through;
  • well stimulation improves the flow of oil from the drainage area into the well bore; and
  • enhanced water floods increase microbial activity by injecting selected microbes and sometimes nutrients. From the engineering point of view, MEOR is a system integrated by the reservoir, microbes, nutrients and protocol of well injection.

Read more about Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery:  MEOR Outcomes, Relevance, Bias, History, MEOR Advantages, MEOR Disadvantages, The Environment of An Oil Reservoir, Environmental Constraints, MEOR Mechanism, MEOR Strategies, Field Studies, Models, Grounds of Failure, Trends, Ventures Working in MEOR

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