Patent ID: 8176978

Claim:
A process for bioconverting a carbon-bearing subterranean formation, and thereby producing a product comprising at least one hydrocarbon, said process for bioconverting comprising: injecting fluid into a carbon-bearing deposit, located in said subterranean formation, by way of at least one injection well, removing injected fluid and product from said carbon-bearing deposit through at least one production well, said bioconverting being effected by a microbial consortia capable of bioconverting said carbon-bearing deposit so as to produce at least one hydrocarbon, and controlling fluid pressure within at least a portion of said carbon-bearing deposit by use of said injected fluid, said fluid pressure being controlled such that the fluid pressure within at least a portion of said carbon-bearing deposit exceeds the fluid pressure that normally exists in that portion, but does not exceed the tensile strength of said carbon-bearing deposit, thereby avoiding the inducing and/or propagating of fractures in said carbon-bearing deposit.