A THREE BASIN COMPARISON OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES FROM PRODUCED FLUIDS (Invited Presentation)

Microorganisms in production fluids of unconventional oil and gas regions are known to catalyze many reactions that could cause a risk to infrastructure or decrease of oil/gas quality. For example, sulfate reduction and acid production could lead to corrosion and hydrogen sulfide release during or after hydraulic fracturing operations. Nonetheless, the current understanding of microbial populations living the unconventional oil and gas systems is based on a limited number of samples demonstrating a need to evaluate cross-basin trends while further increasing characterization efforts to validate results. Here, we discuss the microbial community structure, microbial abundance, and metabolic potential of microbial populations from sampling efforts in the Marcellus Shale, Bakken Shale, and Permian Basin. Results suggested all three shale plays have a high abundance of Halanaerobium, a bacterium with the metabolic potential to contribute to acid production, sulfide production, and biofouling. Less abundant species varied between shale plays, demonstrating some regions to have a high potential for biologically driven corrosion and others to have a high potential for biogenic methane generation. Findings from this research enhance the current understanding of biological-geochemical interactions in produced water and will contribute to the development of better predictability in fluid properties, with the goal to limit corrosion, control fouling and souring issues, protect well infrastructure, and minimize unnecessary biocide application.