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Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology pp 2159–2172Cite as

Microbial Communities in Oil Shales, Biodegraded and Heavy Oil Reservoirs, and Bitumen Deposits

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Abstract:

Subsurface hydrocarbon and oil shale deposits, once thought sterile, are being re-evaluated as habitats for ancient and contemporary microbial activity. Although oil shales have not been rigorously examined microbiologically, there are tantalizing hints that they harbor viable prokaryotic communities. A larger body of evidence for indigenous microbes has been gathered from conventional oil reservoirs in which the hydrocarbons have been altered, presumably microbiologically, effecting physical and chemical changes in the biodegraded oils. As extreme examples, shallow low-temperature reservoirs can bear highly viscous heavy oils and bitumens in which the labile substrates (e.g., n-alkanes and simple aromatic hydrocarbons) have been completely consumed, leaving recalcitrant complex molecules like asphaltenes. Thus, bitumen deposits appear unlikely to sustain flourishing extant microbial populations, but too few studies have been performed to test this hypothesis.

Despite the current view that indigenous microbes exist in hydrocarbon deposits, fundamental questions remain as to their source, metabolism, and limits to growth. This chapter reviews the scant reports of microbial communities associated with oil shales and bitumen deposits, and summarizes reports of conventional oil reservoirs that exhibit biodegradation in the absence of waterflooding or chemical injection. The reader is directed to Chapter 3, Vol. 3, Part 1; Chapter 47, Vol. 3, Part 4; Chapter 26, Vol. 4, Part 5 for reviews pertaining to stimulated oil reservoirs and to the volume edited by Ollivier and Magot (2005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

    J. Foght

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  1. J. Foght
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Inhoffenstrasse 7, 38124, Braunschweig, Germany

    Kenneth N. Timmis (Professor) (Professor)

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Foght, J. (2010). Microbial Communities in Oil Shales, Biodegraded and Heavy Oil Reservoirs, and Bitumen Deposits. In: Timmis, K.N. (eds) Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-77587-4_156

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