LEMIGAS develops microbe to enhance oil recovery

LEMIGAS develops microbe to enhance oil recovery

By Johannes Simbolon

JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned Research and Development for Oil
and Gas Technology (LEMIGAS) has been developing technology using
microbes to enhance oil recovery in the country's oil fields.

The agency recently reached a milestone in its venture by
completing a five-year laboratory research which proves the use
of microbes to enhance oil recovery.

Head of LEMIGAS' research and development office, Evita
Legowo, said recently the laboratory study indicated that the use
of microbes could enhance recovery factors in oil fields by
between 50 percent and 100 percent.

"But, we have yet to stage some field tests to justify the
conclusion," Evita said.

She added that the agency has plans to carry out some field
tests at the state oil and gas company Pertamina's oil field in
Prabumulih, South Sumatra, in the near future. Unocal Indonesia
Ltd, a subsidiary of the U.S. giant energy company Unocal Corp,
has also shown interest in "participating" in the field test.

The laboratory research for the Microbial Enhance Oil Recovery
(MEOR) technology began in August 1993 with two grants,
US$450,000 and Rp 950 million ($86,000), from Pertamina.

Pertamina's exploration and production director, Priyambodo
Mulyosudirjo, said the agency's achievement was expected to give
an alternative for the government to increase the country's oil
production amid the current scarcity of new oil discoveries.

"We really appreciate the agency's achievement," Priyambodo
said.

International consultant Wood McKenzie predicted in 1995 that
the country would turn from being a net oil exporter to net oil
importer by 2008 due to a dwindling reservoir of existing oil
fields and the scarcity of oil discoveries over the past decade.

Currently, the country produces 1.5 million barrels per day
(bpd) of crude oil but consumes about 700,000 bpd. According to
McKenzie, the country's oil output will drop to 1.2 million bpd
in 2008, less than the then national consumption.

Some analysts predict Indonesia will remain a net oil exporter
longer than McKenzie has predicted but all agree that Indonesia
will not be able to rely on its oil resource for long.

EOR

Evita said oil companies can only recover between 15 percent
and 20 percent of oil reserves if they only rely on the pressure
inside oil wells to push oil to the surface.

They can increase the oil recovery rate to between 20 percent
and 35 percent by injecting hot water into the wells to add
pressure to push the oil to the surface. This is called secondary
enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology.

But, a large percentage of oil reserves still cannot be bought
to the surface due to several factors, including the fact that
they are too viscous or trapped in the reservoir rock.

Evita said experts have developed an advanced EOR technology
to lower oil viscosity and loosen the attachment of oil to rock.
This tertiary EOR technology could increase the oil recovery rate
to between 35 percent and 50 percent.

Tertiary EOR technology is carried out by injecting steam or
chemicals into wells or using microbes.

Evita said that at present, the most popular technique of all
tertiary EOR technologies is the one using steam injection, while
the one using chemical injection is considered too expensive and
environmentally unfriendly.

The country's largest oil producer, Caltex Pacific Indonesia,
which is jointly owned by the United States oil companies Chevron
and Texaco, has been using the steam injection technique at its
Duri oil field in Riau.

Evita noted, however, that the MEOR has been growing more
popular today since it is considered cheaper and environmentally
more friendly.

Under the MEOR system, Evita said, oil companies use microbes
to produce bioproducts, including biosurfactants, biopolymer,
bioacid and biosolvents which chemically reduce oil viscosity and
release oil from the reservoir rocks, and, as such, facilitate
the flow of oil to the surface.

Evita said LEMIGAS once imported microbes that were used by
oil companies in the United States for its research but the
microbes could not survive on the type of nutrition consumed by
local microbes.

"Each microbe can apparently only survive in its own
environment. The U.S. microbes might be more familiar with cheese
so that they quickly died when we give them tempeh," Evita joked.

After failing to develop research on imported microbes,
LEMIGAS turned its focus on microbes which were discovered in
local oil fields.

"We found that some microbes exist and grow well in oil wells
at a certain temperature and depth. We then thought how to make
the microbes proliferate and industriously produce the
bioproducts which are needed to release oil from the reservoir
rock," Evita said.

Evita said LEMIGAS has managed to develop a type of nutrition
which can boost the proliferation of microbes and increase the
production of their bioproducts. She would not reveal the
nutrition.

"Pertamina and LEMIGAS hold the patent of the formula of the
nutrition," Priyambodo said.

Priyambodo said Pertamina had yet to calculate the investment
needed for an oil company to install MEOR technology.

The government has given some incentives for contractors to
develop oil resources in marginal, frontier and tertiary EOR
fields because oil discoveries have been rarely made in the
conventional areas over the past decade.

The incentives include, among others, that the government
takes 75 percent of oil output from the development of tertiary
EOR, marginal and deepwater areas, leaving the remainder to
contractors. In conventional areas, the government take 85
percent of oil output.