Oil-eating bacteria could improve the exploitation of tar sands and heavy-oil reservoirs

Implications: A very interesting article, published on 12- 12-07 by K. Sanderson in Nature magazine reports on a study by a team of Canadian, Norwegian and English researchers headed by Dr. Larter of Calgary Univ. The study explored how naturally occurring bacteria deep down in the Earth break down in anaerobic conditions heavy hydrocarbons producing methane. The results suggest that, fed with the appropriate nutrients, these bacteria would be able to accelerate the process of methane production. It is estimated that methanogenesis, takes several millions of years, but Larter team concluded that under certain conditions this process could be expedited to occur in  approximately ten years. The impact of this research for some oil companies, for the energy markets, and for mankind could be tremendous. he “end of oil” date, which many estimate to be around 2060, could be pushed back by many years.  The geopolitical center of the energy markets could be tilted from the Middle East towards the America

Analysis:  Several years ago, microbiological research found that bacteria living below the earth’s surface can be made to convert oil into methane. This technology has been used extensively to clean contaminated soils and lagoons surrounding oil refineries. One of the Foster Wheeler subsidiaries for which I was responsible completed a very important project in 1987 for an oil company with this technology. A very interesting article was published on December 12, 2007 by Katherine Sanderson in Nature magazine reporting on a study conducted by a team of Canadian, Norwegian and English researchers headed by Dr. Steve Larter of Calgary University. The study explored how naturally occurring bacteria deep down in the Earth break down in anaerobic conditions heavy hydrocarbons and produce methane. The results of this study suggest that, fed with the appropriate nutrients, these bacteria would be able to accelerate the process of methane production. It is estimated that methanogenesis, the natural process of conversion of heavy hydrocarbons into methane by these bacteria (mainly Syntrophus aciditrophicus), takes several millions of years, but Dr. Larter team concluded that under certain conditions this process could be expedited to occur in  approximately ten years. It seems that the first step of the bacteria is to break-down the long-chain hydrocarbons into acetic acid, carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Concurrent second step involve one set of bacteria converting acetic acid into methane while another set acts on carbon dioxide and hydrogen to produce methane. While laboratory results were encouraging, duplication of the laboratory result in a natural reservoir is proving problematic. Larter and his team are working with oil companies and believe that they will be able to run field tests in 2009. The impact of this research for some oil companies, for the energy markets, and for mankind could be tremendous. Dr. Martin Jones of Newcastle University, one of the members of the research team, points out that Canadian “proven reserves” (i.e. those exploitable with current technologies) are 163 billion barrels (b bbl), compared to 264 in Saudi Arabia, 137 in Iran, 115 in Iraq, 101 in Kuwait and 80 in Venezuela. However the tar sand reserves in Alberta and the Canadian Western Provinces are estimated to be 2,000 b bbl. Additionally, Orinoco-belt reserves are estimated to be 270 b bbl of heavy oil recoverable with current technologies, plus another 930 b bbl non-recoverable with current technologies. If this research proves to be successful, the “end of oil” date, which many estimate to be around 2060, could be pushed back by many years. The geopolitical center of the energy markets could be tilted from the Middle East towards the American continent (primarily Canada and Venezuela) with interesting economic and political repercussions. An additional step that the research team is planning is attempting to stop the hydrogen-using methanogens and speed up the other micro-organisms, the acetic acid processing ones. This could produce a hydrogen rich gas, which would be cleaner to burn. One difficult problem is how to collect the methane produced economically. It is not a very easy problem to solve. An additional idea could be to study the feasibility of injecting carbon dioxide for the bacteria to convert into methane. This could be a solution for carbon dioxide sequestration, considering the ecological impact of fossil fuels combustion. Initial results are very promising and could have vast implications, and further development and field test results of Dr. Larter’s team deserve great attention.