Control of microbial sulfide production by limiting sulfate dispersal in a water-injected oil field

Oil production by water injection often involves the use of makeup water to replace produced oil. Sulfate in makeup water is reduced by sulfate-reducing bacteria to sulfide, a process referred to as souring. In the MHGC field souring was caused by using makeup water with 4 mM (384 ppm) sulfate. Mixing with sulfate-free produced water gave injection water with 0.8 mM sulfate. This was amended with nitrate to limit souring and was then distributed...