The Utilization of the Microflora Indigenous to and Present in Oil-Bearing Formations to Selectively Plug the More Porous Zones Thereby Increasing Oil Recovery During Waterflooding

The objective of this work is to demonstrate the use of indigenous microbes as a method of profile control in waterfloods. It is expected that as the microbial population is induced to increase, that the expanded biomass will selectively block the more permeable zones of the reservoir thereby forcing injection water to flow through the less permeable zones which will result in improved sweep efficiency. This increase in microbial population will be accomplished by injecting a nutrient solution into four injectors. Four other injectors will act as control wells. During Phase I, two wells will be cored through the zone of interest. The core will be subjected to special core analyses in order to arrive at the optimum nutrient formulation. During Phase II, nutrient injection will begin, the results monitored, and adjustments to the nutrient composition made, if necessary. Phase II also will include the drilling of three wells for post-mortem core analysis. Phase III will focus on technology transfer of the results. It should be pointed out that one expected outcome of this new technology will be a prolongation of economical waterflooding operations, i.e. economical oil recovery should continue for much longer periods in the producing wells subjected to this selective plugging technique. Results from work under DOE Contract No. DE-AC22-90BC14665 will be incorporated as appropriate