Petroleum degradation by aerobic microbiota from the Pampo Sul Oil Field, Campos Basin, Brazil

Aerobic degradation of a crude oil (sample P1), collected from a deep water reservoir from the Pampo Sul Field (Campos Basin, RJ) at 82 °C and 2405-2588 m, by indigenous bacteria in the oil and formation water was monitored for 60 days. Degradation parameters, measured using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) of the crude oil degraded in the laboratory for periods of 0, 30, 50 and 60 days, were compared with those of a naturally biodegraded oil (sample P2). The analyses revealed that the n-alkanes were totally depleted by the 60th day when the crude oil (P1, degradation level 2) was transformed into petroleum of biodegradation level 6 (P2).