Reservoir Souring - Latest developments for application and mitigation

Area of Science:

• Petroleum Engineering
• Microbiology
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Sulphate-reducing prokaryotes (SRP) produce hydrogen sulphide (H2S), a corrosive agent impacting oil field operations.
• Reservoir souring, an increase in H2S, is primarily caused by SRP activity in water-flooded oil fields.
• Traditional detection and control methods for SRP are over a century old, necessitating advancements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current and emerging technologies for mitigating microbial reservoir souring.
• To highlight the potential of 'big data' and next-generation sequencing (NGS) in refining souring models.
• To identify areas for development to improve detection, prediction, and control of reservoir souring.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on sulphate-reduction and reservoir souring.
• Analysis of current and novel mitigation technologies for microbial control.
• Exploration of modelling and prediction strategies, including data integration and NGS.

Main Results:

• SRP activity is a major contributor to reservoir souring, despite complex influencing factors.
• Advances in DNA sequencing and digital oil field integration offer new avenues for souring management.
• Existing mitigation methods are often outdated, emphasizing the need for novel approaches.

Conclusions:

• Integrating 'big data' and advanced sequencing can significantly improve microbial reservoir souring models.
• Developing and implementing novel technologies is crucial for effective detection, prediction, and control.
• Further research and development efforts are needed to enhance operational safety and reduce costs associated with reservoir souring.