Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 4, 2025

Prospecting Microbial Strains for Bioremediation and Probiotics Development for Metaorganism Research and Preservation
Published on: October 31, 2019
Nutrient optimization for indigenous microbial consortia of a Bhagyam oil field: MEOR studies
Neha Sharma1, Meeta Lavania1, Vatsala Koul1
1Microbial Biotechnology, Environmental and Industrial Biotechnology Division, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi, India.
Abstract:
The microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) method is an eco-friendly and economical alternative technology. The technology involves a variety of uncertainties, and its success depends on controlling microbial growth and metabolism. This study is one of a kind that showed successful tertiary recovery of crude oil through indigenous microbial consortia. In this study, a medium was optimized to allow ideal microbial growth under reservoir conditions through RSM. Once the nutrient recipe was optimized, the microbial metabolites were estimated through gas chromatography. The maximum amount of methane gas (0.468 mM) was produced in the TERIW174 sample. The sequencing data set showed the presence of Methanothermobacter sp. and Petrotoga sp. In addition, these established consortia were analyzed for their toxicity, and they appeared to be safe for the environment. Furthermore, a core flood study showed efficient recovery that was ~25 and 34% in TERIW70 and TERIW174 samples, respectively. Thus, both the isolated consortia appeared to be suitable for the field trials.
Related Concept Videos
Bioremediation
Environmental Applications of Microorganisms
Microbial Fermentation
Microbial Nutrition
Biological Methods for Microbial Control

