Research Discovery Could Lead to Cleaner Methane Recovery

A team of scientists at the University of Calgary, Canada, have discovered how crude oil biodegrades into methane or natural gas, opening the door for cleaner and more environmentally friendly ways to find oil.

The research could lead to the recovery of clean-burning methane from deep oil deposits, according to petroleum geologist Steve Larter, who headed up the research.

He says the find could especially benefit the oil sands industry, as it would no longer have to use costly and polluting thermal or heat-based processes (such as injecting steam into reservoirs) to loosen the tar-like bitumen so it flows into wells and can be pumped to the surface.

"The main thing is you'd be recovering a much cleaner fuel," says Larter.

"Methane is, per energy unit, a much lower carbon dioxide emitter than bitumen.

"Also, you wouldn't need all the upgrading facilities and piping on the surface."

The natural process takes place when bacteria consumes the oil, making it thick and contaminating it with pollutants such as sulphur.

Larters team found this process is a type of fermentation caused by anaerobic bacteria that live in oil reserves.

This degradation naturally produces methane, which when fed with microbes could rapidly accelerate the process.

"Instead of ten million years, we want to do it ten years," Larter says.

"We can do it in the laboratory. The question is: can we do it in a reservoir?"

The university's original report appears on the website Nature.com.

By staff writer