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$200k for oil and gas microbiology research

Friday, June 29, 2012

Intertek has agreed to provide $200,000 for the University of Calgary to make research into petroleum microbiology.

This is the second time Intertek has given the university $200,000.

The research is part of an ongoing program by Intertek's "Production and Integrity Assurance" service line, which is based in Aberdeen, focussed on corrosion, materials testing and microbiology in oil and gas.

The research is looking at 3 areas: reservoir souring due to bacteria, corrosion control with biological treatment and Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR).

Intertek provides analytical data and support for the research.

The reservoir souring research will benefit Intertek clients who need to address quality issues caused by microbial activity in existing reservoirs.

"It is widely accepted that nitrates halt reservoir souring but it is not fully understood how," says
Heike Hoffmann, Consultant Microbiologist at Intertek Commercial Microbiology.

'A significant proportion of microorganisms are still not that well understood. The research will create new insights into the problems commonly faced due to bacteria."

"This study will look at the mechanism of reservoir souring more deeply and allow us to develop the reservoir chemistry testing and evaluation programmes we provide to clients.'

The research is part of the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Industrial Research Chairs programme, which aims to unite top university researchers and companies to produce findings which will help advance understanding of how microorganisms can work both for and against the oil industry.

There are ten PhD and master student places and five post doctorate fellow places on the team.

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» Intertek

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