How These Bacteria Live Off Crude Oil

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This episode is sponsored by Wren, a website where you calculate your carbon footprint. Sign up to make a monthly contribution to offset your carbon footprint or support rainforest protection projects: www.wren.co/start/scishow
Since almost the beginning of commercial oil production, engineers have had a problem with things living in the oil reservoirs hundreds of meters below the surface.
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Опубликовано:

8 июн 2024

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Комментарии : 248

@SciShow Год назад

@howiefeltersnatch2973 Год назад

Yeah ok 😂

@Ghostrander Год назад

Carbon offsets are an oil-company scam. Easily verifiable

@jesipohl6717 Год назад

what a nightmare.

@alonsoarana5307 Год назад

This is noble and all but if we're not going to tackle the fact that it's 100 corporations making 72 percent of emissions then this is really useless

@Rabcup Год назад

Pls stop taking money from a scam

@samwill7259 Год назад

Imagine how many generations of microbes have lives, evolved and died in a snot bubble at the bottom of the ocean. An entire, self contained ecosystem living without light and without disturbance for eons.

@arjunreddy9908 Год назад

And then we came along and destroyed most of said ecosystems in less than a hundred years...

@Emerson-Tiddees Год назад

A snot bubble is what the aliens call Earth

@TBJ1118 Год назад

...and then we come in, destroy it all and take the oil to go vroom vroom

@chettonex Год назад

Fun fact, there are bacteria that live in lava.

@Mr.Anders0n_ Год назад

Yeah, i can imagine their tiny theoretical physicists arguing whether their dark stretch of observable universe (the oil patch they're in) is all that exists or merely one of many in a bigger universe.

@void2240 Год назад

Imagine being a microbe chilling for millions of years and then someone just disinfects your whole colony.

@ooooneeee Год назад

IKR, rude!

@88smileandnod Год назад

Microscopic rage

@ThePowerLover Год назад

Nature is like that.

@mad_max21 Год назад

Jokes on you. Microbes can't imagine.

@ThePowerLover Год назад

@@mad_max21 It seems...

@maxie4937 Год назад

There are too few expert microbiologist interested in this topic. Perhaps sulfur cycle is a too simple to be an area of expertise for them. After all, being a biologist and being an oilfield worker is worlds apart. I work in an oil company as a reservoir engineer. 10 years ago my team started injecting sea water into the reservoir to sweep the oil. Within 3 years the oil wells start producing H2S. We were very confused, we tought if the reservoir contains H2S the well should produce it from the beginning (±50 years ago) but no. So we retested the oil and the seawater and found nothing, because we were looking for clue of chemical reaction (sulphate needs high temperature to reacts with hydrogen ion, and the reservoir has low temperature). For months nobody tought it was biological reaction, so we didn't bother looking for microbiologist advise. Turns out the sulphate ions in the seawater ACCUMULATED in the reservoir. It accumulated slowly and took 3 years for it to become the source of biological H2S source / microbes' food. I think someone found this out in a seminar or something.

@TheScratcherStudios Год назад

What young Hank did not know is that this would be amazing as a "journey to the microcosm" episode.

@eaterdrinker000 Год назад

YES

@planetbyron Год назад

Okay 👍

@thathobbitlife Год назад

He surely knows now lol

@AryadiSubagio Год назад

it's always mindblowing to me that we see live even in extreme places on eart, either in deep sea where sunlight doesn't reach, places that are very hot or very acidic or even in oil like this... yet we still can't find lives in other planets

@SpoonHurler Год назад

While in Uni I worked with and studied extremophilic organisms, primarily one the grew in sub pH 1.0 and over 40 degrees C. It's amazing how something figures out how to live almost anywhere on our little orb.

@KurtQuad Год назад

There is also microbiological corrosion from these critters. It really became an issue with water food injection and before you ask I’m in the control valve industry and sell meters to pipeline companies. The meters were getting small pits in the ductile iron and carbon steel housings sometimes just months after installation. It would develop into small pencil wide holes and cause all sorts of issues with the big one being an expensive cleanup. We now have to coat every meter with a special Teflon-derived coating to stop this. They took samples of the crude, made cultures and they grew exceedingly fast. Everyone was surprised but we figured it out.

@CyanicCore Год назад

Didn't he mention steel corrosion?

@KurtQuad Год назад

@@CyanicCore in these meters you can get electrochemical corrosion and bacterial corrosion. The “bugs” were chowing down on the metal in areas where salt water pooled and didn’t move. It never happened for years until they changed how they flooded the wells.

@ChemEDan Год назад

@@KurtQuad Ha that's crazy! Very interesting that their growth is described as "fast." Kind of indicates they're originally from the surface

@ologhai8559 Год назад

problem solved until they find teflon tasty 😂

@loc4725 Год назад

Back in 1999 I had a conversation with a geophysicist about this and how the microbes only reproduce (miosis) around once every 500 years. Fascinating stuff.

@J.A.huscher Год назад

Why does Hank just make me smile bro I love him sm😭😭😭

@NecrologistALT Год назад

Absolutely crazy what evolution can produce.

@cfltheman Год назад

And crazier that people still deny it despite its overwhelming evidence.

@NecrologistALT Год назад

@@cfltheman exactly

@ChemEDan Год назад

Hopefully not your username tho. Hard pass on giant mosquitos

@ThePowerLover Год назад

@@cfltheman Every human do that.

@ThePowerLover Год назад

The world, evolution is just a process, you talk about it like if were a god or something.

@arjunreddy9908 Год назад

Perhaps researchers could engineer their hydrocarbon-breaking proteins to be more effective and put them in common ocean-dwelling bacteria or in the microbiomes of fish to help curb the effects of oil spills.

@Nameorsmth Год назад

big bacteria that eat human,

@arjunreddy9908 Год назад

@@Nameorsmth Obvious second step, yes.

@tessarae9127 Год назад

Oooh!!! Yessss 🔥 though I would be wary of unexpected consequences to skewing an ecosystem by introducing mass amounts of a new bacteria…

@tessarae9127 Год назад

@@Nameorsmth 😆

@arjunreddy9908 Год назад

@@tessarae9127 Or simply modifying existing microorganisms to produce the proteins under certain conditions (ie. presence of petroleum).

@benburgess9428 Год назад

Yup. When I collect fluid & soil samples from oil well pads for lab analysis, one of the things we test for is microbes. Along with chemical tests to determine acidity, salinity, and specific hydrocarbon composition, we also run biological tests to determine how many microbes & how many species of microbes are in any given pocket.

@Aerosol_Masking Год назад

For further info on the topic : Read “The Deep Hot Biosphere” by Thomas Gold. He proves in the book that there is more life under the ground than there is above it (by biomass).It feeds on hydrocarbons mostly.

@jeremiahgaskins9127 Год назад

The real gas guzzlers...

@scrotiemcboogerballs1981 Год назад

Could these microbes have an effect on why some oil in different areas have higher or lower sulfur and other stuff?

@xtremej2575 Год назад

Prehaps, if these particular micromes produce gases as waste

@ryanjardee9235 Год назад

They can! Some bacteria, called sulfate reducing bacteria, or SRBs, perform anaerobic respiration and turn sulfates into hydrogen sulfide as part of the cycle. They can be a major headache for oil companies because H2S is a major safety hazard and corrosive agent.

@Izzidien Год назад

Absolutely. You can also introduce SRBs to a reservoir through water injection which is known as reservoir souring. This is why its important to treat injection water if the reservoir conditions are appropriate for SRBs to flourish.

@alhypo Год назад

Build a house around me out of my own snot? Challenge accepted...

@jimknoll Год назад

I think my kids are already doing this.

@thekingoffailure9967 Год назад

I already have a jar of semen to use as the mortar between the snot bricks

@Jake-zk3eb Год назад

Life finds a way indeed

@starshinesoldier Год назад

I have a question about the tree planting thing Wren and other charities do. Do they plant the trees at national parks or where natural forest are… or are they being planted in people’s backyards or in the streets. Are they planting new forests where deforestation happened? Are they native trees suitable for the environment? How do these treeplanting charities work?

@fcktherich6913 Год назад

They usually own some land and either "protect" the trees by not cutting them down or plant trees on said land, for that year or whatever. Carbon offset businesses (and charities) are largely scams.

@fcktherich6913 Год назад

Also "carbon footprint" was dreamed up by a petroleum company to make regular people feel guilty for existing while they destroy the planet and prevent alternative fuels for profit. It worked on me though, I'm a green vegan who bikes everywhere etc.

@charlesabbethy490 Год назад

Fascinating, thanks

@demdarja Год назад

Thank you for a very interesting video!

@danielled8665 Год назад

Just saw you on Drawfee! That Pelicorn now lives in my nightmares. My daughter wants one.

@ag135i Год назад

I love hank's anchoring.

@DeDraconis Год назад

Hank said "out of your snot" as my finger was up my nose and I feel unintentionally judged.

@_rhino1770 Год назад

This is so cool

@romulusnr Год назад

1:02 did you literally use a screencap of Turmoil to illustrate oil wells? Brilliant

@fuferito Год назад

Hopefully _this_ is an origin story Marvel Studios and Disney won't ruin.

@EduardoSanchez-un2hh Год назад

They are everywhere!

@wei8280 Год назад

This gives a new possibility to life on other planets. Likely even in our solar system, just microbes.

@nocgod Год назад

So in essence the x-files predicted these, huh? Mulder strikes again... The workers should be careful, some may turn them into homocidal alien agents trying to occupy the earth!

@leelulady2010 Год назад

Anaerobic bacteria have been used for decades in the oil industry for different things. My father's plant used them in various parts and for cleaning (testing strains) since the 70-90's.

@leelulady2010 Год назад

This was in Houston Texas.

@leelulady2010 Год назад

Mercaptan that was created to add to gas was made in Houston TX by the company where my dad worked. This is why. response.restoration.noaa.gov/about/media/todays-responders-1937-texas-tragedy-still-carries-lessons-avoiding-disaster.html

@leelulady2010 Год назад

Their patent for the odorant expired around 1995. That's when they restructured and laid off lots of people.

@thepeff Год назад

Had to check the length, make sure this wasn't a compilation

@neveraskedforahandle Год назад

This is insane.

@dragonskunkstudio7582 Год назад

What an evil plan that would be, destroy all oil deposits with super oil consuming bacteria world wide. Oilfinger! **queue the James Bond theme**

@SavageBunny1 Год назад

"Oil and water can't mix" Well my BMW with a blown headgasket seems to disagree.

@isaach1447 Год назад

I work for a petroleum products pipeline. We have to be mindful of microbes living in the refined fuel we are transporting because it can corrode the metal pipes. This usually occurs if there are sections of pipe with stagnate product in them, so these sections are either removed or they have to be flushed out regularly. “Microbe Induced Corrosion” is actually a whole area of corrosion mitigation. And then there are occasions where bacteria is used to help clean up contamination where there have been releases.

@usamaizm Год назад

Life on Mars confirmed 😎.

@ivoryowl Год назад

Bacteria: (Eats oil) America: I THINK NOT!!!!

@DeliveryMcGee Год назад

As a person who grew up in the East Texas oilfield ... That's not how oil works, Hank. It's more like a sponge made of sandstone.

@curiodyssey3867 Год назад

Well then you should know he's simplifying for brevity. Get over yourself.

@FoxDreams Год назад

This reminds me of the Star Trek (original series) episode where the Rock mother was trying to protect her eggs from the miners....

@bcubed72 Год назад

I'm reminded of the joke about the fly in the beer. I'd hold the bacteria over an oil barrel, yelling "Spit it out, ya greedy bugger, spit it out!"

@twocvbloke Год назад

So it's like diesel bug, but much much older... :P

@AceSpadeThePikachu Год назад

Just yet more evidence that life...uh...finds a way. Really does make me wonder if Titan's hydrocarbon lakes could be teeming with life.

@ESUvegan Год назад

Oil comes from another planet

@skie6282 Год назад

This is probably why some people think oil is actually a living thing, like plankton

@catatonicbug7522 Год назад

Just what we need - high-octane bacteria that have never met intelligent life, but are really angry after being evicted from their warm, slimy homes.

@FrescoyMembrillo Год назад

there are lots of abiotic origin of petroleum proponents, some even theorize microbial contribution

@williamnicholson8133 Год назад

Especially where said oil is found and lack of fossils found in the deposits .

@EnchWraits Год назад

This is one example of why there is definitely alien life

@planetbyron Год назад

I love your videos🇦🇺🇳🇿🇰🇷🇺🇸

@uhohhotdog Год назад

Declare the bacteria an endangered species and now we end oil drilling

@alien9279 Год назад

Reservoir microbes on Mars? 🤔

@ThunderGun2 Год назад

This gives me gears of war vibes.

@cardinaltorquemada6206 Год назад

if bacteria can live in crude oil then so can I. let me into the reservoirs.

@walperstyle Год назад

It's kinda like that episode of Futurama where they were eating the babies of Omricon Persei 7

@satxs5974 Год назад

We’ve all watched the X-Files episode and know where this is heading.

@CyanicCore Год назад

I haven't, but the comment alone gives some ideas...

@jeremiahcutright81 Год назад

If it's true that microbes could have survived the descent and been trapped away for who knows how long, and be essentially isolated, then wouldn't every group of these microorganisms have evolved independently in each oil field?? Probably thousands or more independent evolutionary chains that could be studied to see how random mutations in similar circumstances played out.

@purplealice Год назад

Do bacteria contribute to the formation of petroleum?

@rob6850 Год назад

It clearly must... Just like composting on a massively longer scale.

@williamnicholson8133 Год назад

Its possible that they create it outright.

@ajc389 Год назад

There is also the diesel bug which infects diesel and jet fuel.

@richardwilcox3643 Год назад

Next thing you know, they’re gonna be telling us that there’s some crazy critters that metabolize plastics 😳

@castonyoung7514 Год назад

Ideonella Sakaiensis

@evandrochaves9596 Год назад

Ahh use of microbes in oil retrieval and other similar human activities, microbiology was one of my least favorite areas of biology, but then a crazy teacher that was also very strict, just explained how microbes are useful in this operations, appealing to my chemist background, even my grades went higher after that, too bad it was on my last semester

@Cliffdog01 Год назад

Honestly etremofiles like this gives me hope that I will to see Scientist discover microbial life in Mars, Around Venus or through the Ice Moons. I can't to see the day we find our planet is not alone.

@sixstix965 Год назад

Not me thinking about the amount of microbes that probably lived and died in those oil deposits

@TheLusus Год назад

Speaking about oil reservoars. Is there any research done regarding what the effects on the earths geology could be when oil reservoars aren't filled with oil any more?

@whyaskmenoely25 Год назад

Wireline Engineer with Bachelors in Petroleum Engineering here. They'd just fill with water. Aquifers provide the water drive mechanisms for oil reservoirs. Oil and gas is compressible as well. So other fluids just fill the space. Reservoirs are never fully depleted because of recovery costs.

@isabel.bolivia Год назад

It's always us interrupting them

@willalogicalthedanio4729 21 день назад

And that and normally it's radioactive

@gingerscholar152 Год назад

I heard about cyanobacteria during Deep Water Horizon, and around that time CRISPR technology was quite the novelty, so why couldn't we take gene that lets them metabolize oil and transfer it to something like algae as a biotech to clean up oil spills?

@ooooneeee Год назад

Trying to solve an ecological problem by introducing new species has backfired a lot with those species becoming invasive and their expansion threatening ecosystems and native species. Just look at Australia.

@GunslingerLv Год назад

Let's say I've played enough gears of War to see where this is going

@mykalkelley8315 Год назад

I F'd up what should have been a perfect friendship, I'm going to change myself for my (and their) sake.

@CUBETechie 4 месяца назад

Can it be added to regular poop?

@noksuan59 Год назад

I wonder if those microbes could break down plastics?

@ComradeCatpurrnicus Год назад

We have to preserve the oil ecosystem of these lil microbes by not drilling oil. Another reason to take action towards a sustainable energy transition.

@EchoFire711 Год назад

we can use these microbes and bio engineer them to help us clean oil spills

@user-nz6ug4ru8f Год назад

Any plans for a video on which plant families were the origin for decomposing into which type of oil (or another differentiator for fossil fuel wells)? E.g. Equisetales => sticky petroleum Mosses & toendra vegetation => brown coal ( ? geological era) ? => fatty cokes ? => shares Algae => ? Maybe I'm asking the wrong question. 🤔

@alexanderstone9463 Год назад

There are differences about which organisms decompose into. Coal for instance comes almost exclusively from plant matter.

@user-nz6ug4ru8f Год назад

@@alexanderstone9463 Please clarify. Does all coal come from the same plant material? For example Cambrian Tropical forests? Or does it depend on the type of coal or location. I realize that compression over time resulted in different qualities of coal. At least that is what remember.

@alexanderstone9463 Год назад

@@user-nz6ug4ru8f I'm not an expert in this field. However, I can tell you that an abnormally large percentage of the world's coal reserves come from plant material that was buried during the Carboniferous and Permian eras (some sources say as high as 90%). This is bizarre as most other fossil fuels are, to my knowledge, deposited at a relatively consistent rate over time periods (though I might be wrong or only partly right about that). It is my understanding that biologists and paleontologists believe that this is because wood with lignin in it was as inedible to microbes of the Paleozoic, as most plastics currently are to the microbes of our era. In the aftermath of the Permian-Triassic extinction event, coal formation apparently ceased to be as widespread as it previously was, and could henceforth only happen in wetlands (to my knowledge it does NOT seem like this is directly related to the extinction event btw).

@user-nz6ug4ru8f Год назад

@@alexanderstone9463 I really appreciate your reply. Beside carbon being partly deposited during the carboniferous Era, which sounds reasonable 🤔. I conclude that I'm not the only one with some curiosity about the origin of the fuel we all use daily.

@dustinmurphy7743 Год назад

I guess this adds a but more support to the idea that microbes might exist on Titan 🤔. Maybe they can be found feeding on methane pockets 🤷🏻‍♂️

@UNKNOWN-un6nz Год назад

Sho sample of microb

@sproutingresilience4787 Год назад

So, dont bring these to titan because they may survive and be confused as aliens. Unless they are already there!!!!

@ThatChillWeirdGuy Год назад

I wonder if there's any zombie movies where it all starts because of an infected patch of oil?? 🤔🧟🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️

@fsho5260 Год назад

why not do a video on the new NASA study showing doubled estimates of antarctic ice loss?

@kevinrosa7163 Год назад

What if they were slowly evolving into becoming a singularity/ blob creature then over time evolves slowly and eventually becomes some type of oil living creature

@areenarena Год назад

Octopus also can live in oil and eat oil

@yukinagato1573 Год назад

In other words, microbes were also using fossil fuels long before us started doing so.

@tsmspace Год назад

I sure do like this episoooooode. now for a commmeeeeerrrrrcial break! ,,, just kidding. another youtuber says that in a funny way. (b00's) . but I sure do like this episode. We could have used it,,, say,, before the dust bowl, but better late than never!!

@morowdamien1551 Год назад

petrol not from decomposition, its carbon get eject off the center of the earth, more deep you will search petrol the most you will find, hole can even refill itself

@pathtooptimalhealth Год назад

So... X-files had it right all the time? ;)

@eskiltheeskil851 Год назад

Hankie green

@obes8 Год назад

Can we go green now? lol

@gamesman0118 Год назад

I would like to see a plastic eating microbe that works fast and turns plastic into useable compounds in the environment. Perhaps we can use these to do it if we alter a few genes.