Patent ID: 9290688
Filing Date: 2016-03-22
CPC Classification: C09K,C12N,C12Y

Claim Text:
1. A method of enhancing oil recovery comprising (a) water-flooding an oil reservoir with an alkaline fluid or a fluid containing a compound toxic to indigenous microbes to reduce the concentration of microbes that have the ability to utilize short chain hydrocarbons of about 12 carbons or less, (b) inoculating said oil reservoir with a consortium comprising microbes that naturally are, or are engineered to be, obligatory alkaliphilic, halo-alkaliphilic or alkaline tolerant and naturally are, or are engineered to be, deficient in their ability to utilize short chain hydrocarbons of 12 carbons or less but have the ability to convert hydrocarbons into fatty acids, (c) allowing the consortium to proliferate and degrade hydrocarbons of greater than 12 carbons, and (d) obtaining enhanced oil recovery from the oil reservoir, wherein step (c) is performed under alkaline conditions.