Page 479 - Fundamentals of Enhanced Oil and Gas Recovery

Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery: Microbiology and Fundamentals 467

MEOR (GEMEOR). GEMEOR utilizes genetic engineering methods such as muta-
genesis, recombineering, and protoplast fusion to combine the favorable traits from
different microorganisms to make more efficient strains in enhancement of the oil
recovery [6,966,967]. Using this method, it would be possible to acquire the bio-
chemical with favorable properties using the engineered bacterial strains [31].
GEMEOR can make the enhanced oil recovery more economically feasible. The
main advantages of the engineered strains, which they are designed for, are [31]
1. Tolerating harsh environmental condition;
2. Selectively producing biochemicals in substantial volumes; and
3. Ability to grow on cheaper substrates.
By the genetic engineering approaches, it is possible to insert the DNA sequence
of an organism into a host through protoplast fusion or incorporation of recombinant
plasmid DNA into the competent cells [968]. Hybrid strains can be developed using
protoplast fusion [31].

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