Avaliação do possível impacto das técnicas de MEOR (Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery) no fator de recuperação das reservas de petróleo e gás do Brasil

Abstract

The traditional methods of stimulating production, involving the injection of water, steam, gas or other products, have established the conceptual basis for new methods of oil extraction, utilizing microorganisms and biological processes. Technologies that employ biostimulation and bioaugmentation processes are widely utilized in numerous industrial, pharmaceutical and agroindustrial applications, and, more recently, in the oil industry. Given the enormous economic dimension of the oil industry, any technology that can increase production or recovery of an oil field creates the expectation of large technical, economic and strategic benefits. In order to assess the possible impact of MEOR (Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery) on the recovery factor of oil and gas reserves in Brazil, and which techniques might be most indicated, a wide ranging study of those techniques and of various aspects of the geology of Brazil was carried out. Preliminary studies of a MEOR technique (bioacidification) with possible application in Brazilian reservoirs were also carried out. The results demonstrate that MEOR techniques can be effective in the production, solubilization, emulsification or transformation of several compounds, and that they can promote other physical effects in the oil or the reservoir rock matrix. Brazilian oil basins and unconventional resources with potential for utilization of certain MEOR techniques were also identified. Finally, certain MEOR techniques that deserve further studies were identified, involving both more consolidated techniques (such as biosurfactant and biopolymer production, and the control of microbially induced corrosion), as well as those that have not yet fully proven their viability (such as coal, oil and organic matter gasification; microbial dissociation of gas hydrates; bioconversion of CO2 into methane; and bioacidification). Despite the fact that their potential is not yet fully recognized, MEOR techniques represent the dawn of a new era in the stimulation of production of existing oil resources, and even in the production development plans of new oil and other energy resources. This work furnishes the technical basis for suggesting new initiatives, for recognizing the strategic potential of MEOR, and for helping to realize the full potential of MEOR and its benefits.