In the past decade, molecular microbiological methods (MMM) have significantly expanded the understanding of the microbial populations in several environments, including oilfields and associated infrastructure. These methods are now highly regarded as accurate, comprehensive, and useful to aid the optimization of microbial control strategies. The resulting information has helped operators and service companies to better assess the threat of microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) and act upon it. Nonetheless, despite finding acceptance in the industry, the results from these methods can greatly vary from lab to lab, due to the lack of a standardized protocol. In this study, we describe the joint effort of an initiative between operators, service companies, 3rd party labs and universities to establish a consensus on how to properly collect and preserve samples for molecular analysis, and agree on a set of lab protocols to allow comparable results. We show how all the stakeholders used science-based conclusions to decide on the most comprehensive protocols that balances easiness of use in the field and accuracy of results. This industry-wide effort to standardize these methods will have a profound impact on data collection, quality of data and assessment of microbiological threats in the field.
The presence of microorganisms in natural environments (oilfield reservoirs) and engineered systems (flowlines and separation facilities) has been associated with problems such as microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC), H2S production, and biofouling.1 Due to the ubiquitous nature of microorganisms and the threats they pose to the system, monitoring procedures can provide guidance to properly treat the system and minimize the detrimental impact of high accumulation of microorganisms and their activities in these environments.
Although culture-based techniques have been the standard procedure for enumeration and quantification of microorganisms in oilfields2, numerous reports in the literature highlight the limitations of these methods to accurately identify the organisms that are harmful to the systems.3,4,5
