Bacterial degradation of crude oil: Comparison of field and experimental data

Abstract

It has been reported that the composition of crude oils in the subsurface may be altered by bacterial action to the extent that oil correlations (Winters and Williams, 1969) and the value of the crude (Evans et al., 1971) are severely affected. Experimental documentation of these effects is provided by this study. A crude oil was degraded in a 21-day laboratory experiment by a culture of four aerobic bacteria isolated from an oil-contaminated soil. The progress of the experiment was measured by the changes induced in the chemical composition of the oil fraction boiling above 270°C. These changes were similar to the variations in composition found in the MC5 oils of Saskatchewan, Canada. Normal paraffins through to at least nC 34 were severely depleted although the attack was temporarily blocked at nC 25 (Jobson et al., 1972). The position of this blockage is a function of the isolate employed. The isoprenoids, pristane and phytane, were metabolised after the disappearance of the n-paraffins. Lower-ring naphthenes and aromatics were attacked at the same time as the lighter normal paraffins and before the heavier ones. The more condensed cyclic hydrocarbons were apparently unaffected. Additional non-hydrocarbon NSO, and particularly asphaltene (both defined under section “Methods”), compounds were formed by the metabolism of the hydrocarbons. The residual oil after attack was heavier by approximately 30° API than the initial crude oil.