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US 2018/0003046 A1Published application
Methods to Determine Conditions of a Hydrocarbon Reservoir
AssigneeExxonMobil Upstream Research Comapny
InventorsAaron B. Regberg, Zarath M. Summers, A. Lucie N'Guessan
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Abstract
A method of identifying in situ conditions of a hydrocarbon reservoir is disclosed. The method comprises, obtaining a sample from an area of interest, such as a sediment sample or water column sample near a hydrocarbon seep; analyzing the sample to detect nucleic acid signatures that are indicative of microbes associated with hypersaline aquifers; and using the signature to determine the salinity of the hydrocarbon reservoir.
Claims20
A method of determining one or more conditions of a hydrocarbon reservoir comprising:
- (a) obtaining a sample near a hydrocarbon seep associated with the hydrocarbon reservoir;
- (b) extracting nucleic acids from the sample;
- (c) analyzing the extracted nucleic acids to identify signatures that are indicative of organisms from one or more of the phyla Flavobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, Fermicutes, Methanosarcinales, and Halobacteriales;
- (d) using the signature to determine the salinity of the hydrocarbon reservoir.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.