Method of biological permeability modification of oil reservoirs using resident microorganisms and nutrient supplementation

摘要

A method of increasing oil recovery from oil reservoirs includes the step of conducting a series of lab analysis that lead to a specific nutrient formulation followed by or in parallel with a genetic analysis of resident microorganisms in water produced from an oil reservoir to determine if the population of oil interactive microorganisms may be modified to produce a change in oil-water relative permeability of an oil reservoir. The series of analyzes are conducted to determine the contents of a specific nutrient formulation package to optimize changes in the resident microorganisms to enhance oil recovery by changing oil-water relative permeability in the oil reservoir. Next the specific nutrient formulation is applied to stimulate some of the resident microorganisms to interact with oil contained in the reservoir rock formations. The stimulation step is followed by limiting the specific nutrient formulation to alter or modify the physiology and surface characteristics of the targeted microorganisms.