Microbial Diversity and Community Shifts in a Petroleum Reservoir under Production: Effects of Water Breakthrough and Anthropogenic Alterations

Abstract

Subsurface petroleum reservoirs host indigenous microorganisms that survive extreme conditions and long-term isolation. Microbial activity in these environments can contribute to adverse effects such as oil biodegradation and reservoir souring. Unlike the broader deep biosphere, oil reservoirs are frequently subjected to anthropogenic disturbances, particularly during production processes like water injection, which introduces external microbes and electron acceptors. In this study, we investigated microbial diversity, community structure, and the impact of water breakthrough in the Edvard Grieg oil reservoir offshore Norway using 16S rRNA gene and metagenomic sequencing. We found clear regional heterogeneity in community composition, with low diversity dominated by thermophilic, anaerobic, and halotolerant taxa. The southern region (wells A13, A17, A18, and A19) exhibited lower diversity, while well A07 showed a distinct microbial signature. The dominant genera included the strictly anaerobic bacterium Thermoanaerobacter and the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus. Water breakthrough triggered shifts in community structure, not due to widespread replacement by injected microbes, but via the increase of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Metagenomic data supported these observations and suggested rapid microbial transport between injection water and the water separator. These findings support the use of microbial signatures as cost-effective tools for monitoring oil reservoir processes and integrity.