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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Ian Head, Dr Martin Jones, Professor Stephen Larter
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At temperatures up to about 80 °C, petroleum in subsurface reservoirs is often biologically degraded, over geological timescales, by microorganisms that destroy hydrocarbons and other components to produce altered, denser 'heavy oils'. This temperature threshold for hydrocarbon biodegradation might represent the maximum temperature boundary for life in the deep nutrient-depleted Earth. Most of the world's oil was biodegraded under anaerobic conditions, with methane, a valuable commodity, often being a major by-product, which suggests alternative approaches to recovering the world's vast heavy oil resource that otherwise will remain largely unproduced.
Author(s): Head IM, Jones DM, Larter SR
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Nature
Year: 2003
Volume: 426
Issue: 6964
Pages: 344-352
ISSN (print): 0028-0836
ISSN (electronic): 1476-4687
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature02134
DOI: 10.1038/nature02134
PubMed id: 14628064
