Microorganisms are present in oil reservoirs around the world where they degrade oil and lead to changes in oil quality. Unfortunately, our knowledge about processes in deep oil reservoirs is limited due to the lack of undisturbed samples. In this review, we discuss the distribution of microorganisms at the oil-water transition zone as well as in water saturated parts of the oil leg and their possible physiological adaptations to abiotic and biotic ecological factors such as temperature, salinity and viruses. We show the importance of studying the water phase within the oil, because small water inclusions and pockets within the oil leg provide an exceptional habitat for microorganisms within a natural oil reservoir and concurrently enlarge the zone of oil biodegradation. Environmental factors such as temperature and salinity control oil biodegradation. Temperature determines the type of microorganisms which are able to inhabit the reservoir. Proteobacteria and Euryarchaeota, are ubiquitous in oil reservoirs over all temperature ranges, whereas some others are tied to specific temperatures. It is proposed that biofilm formation is the dominant way of life within oil reservoirs, enhancing nutrient uptake, syntrophic interactions and protection against environmental stress. Literature shows that viruses are abundant in oil reservoirs and the possible impact on microbial community composition due to control of microbial activity and function is discussed.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6323355 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nbt.2018.11.006 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Synthesis of an efficient demulsifier derived from cotton cellulose and its demulsification performance in oily wastewater.
Int J Biol Macromol
January 2025
School of Chemistry & Environmental Engineering, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, PR China.
Substantial amounts of oily wastewater are inevitably generated during petroleum extraction and petrochemical production, and the effective treatment of these O/W emulsions is crucial for environmental protection and resource recovery. The development of an environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and efficient demulsifier that operates effectively at low concentrations remains a significant challenge. This study introduces an eco-friendly ionic liquid demulsifier, Cotton Cellulose-Dodecylamine (CCDA), which demonstrates exceptional demulsification performance at low concentrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNumerical analysis of the hydraulic fracture propagation behavior encountering gravel in conglomerate reservoirs.
Sci Rep
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, 610500, China.
Hydraulic fracturing, which forms complex fracture networks, is a common technique for efficiently exploiting low-permeability conglomerate reservoirs. However, the presence of gravel makes conglomerate highly heterogeneous, endowing the deformation, failure, and internal micro-scale fracture expansion mechanisms with uniqueness. The mechanism of fracture expansion when encountering gravel in conglomerate reservoirs remains unclear, challenging the design and effective implementation of hydraulic fracturing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFN influences on CH accumulation and displacement in shale by molecular dynamics.
Sci Rep
January 2025
School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2052, Australia.
N is generally employed as a displacement agent to enhance gas recovery in shale gas-bearing reservoirs. However, the primary displacement mechanism in the subsurface still needs to be clarified due to the characteristics of shale reservoirs with low porosity and abundant nanopores. This study employs the Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation method to investigate the effects of N on the CH accumulation and displacement processes by adopting practical conditions in the subsurface environment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTracking hydrothermal infiltration within light oil reservoirs using organic geochemical proxies in the Shunbei area of Tarim Basin in China.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Northwest Oilfield Company, SINOPEC, Ürümqi, 830011, China.
Deep oil reservoirs are becoming increasingly significant fields of hydrocarbon exploration in recent decades. Hydrothermal fluid flow is deemed as a potentially crucial factor affecting the occurrence of deep oil reservoirs, such as enhancing porosity/permeability of reservoirs, accelerating oil generation and thermal cracking, and modifying organic properties of crude oils. Understanding the interplay between hydrothermal fluids and crude oils would provide useful constraints for reconstructing hydrocarbon accumulation processes and predicting the distribution patterns of crude oils.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComparative Analysis of Protist Communities in Oilsands Tailings Using Amplicon Sequencing and Metagenomics.
Environ Microbiol
January 2025
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The Canadian province of Alberta contains substantial oilsands reservoirs, consisting of bitumen, clay and sand. Extracting oil involves separating bitumen from inorganic particles using hot water and chemical diluents, resulting in liquid tailings waste with ecotoxicologically significant compounds. Ongoing efforts aim to reclaim tailings-affected areas, with protist colonisation serving as one assessment method of reclamation progress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!