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Enhanced Recovery of Petroleum

	Enhanced Recovery of Petroleum Besides metals, microbes can also be used to enhance recovery of petroleum hydrocarbons. The tertiary recovery of petroleum (the use of biological and chemical means to enhance oil recovery), and the enhanced recovery of hydrocarbons from oil shales are important due to depletion of recoverable oil resources.
Tertiory recovery of oil uses solvents, surfactants and polymers to dislodge oil from geological formations. Xanthan gums produced by some bacteria, such as Xanthomonas compestris, are useful compounds in oil recovery
These polymers have high viscosity and flow characteristics that allow them to pass through small pores in rock layers containing oil deposits. Xanthan gums are added during water flooding operations (water is pumped into oil reservoirs to force out oil). These help push the oil toward the production wells. The polymers are produced by conventional fermentation in which X. compestris is grown and the gums are recovered.
Many oil shales contain large amounts of carbonates and pyrites and their removal increases the porosity of shale, enhancing recovery of oil. Acid dissolves the carbonates and these can be produced by Thiobacillus spp. growing on sulphur and iron in the pyrite. Thus bioleaching of oil shales by microbes has also the potential for enhancing the recovery of hydrocarbons.

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