Petroleum Microbiology Research Laboratory

University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
What the facility does

Petroleum microbiology related to hydrocarbon biodegradation, bioremediation, enhanced oil recovery, biocorrosion, oil sands tailings pond microbiology, and identifying and characterizing microbial communities and their functions in diverse environments

Areas of expertise

The laboratory is equipped to address fundamental and applied research questions related to the roles that microbes play in the oil and gas industry, either beneficially or detrimentally. Infrastructure is available to address research questions or problems using cultivation, analytical chemistry, and molecular biology approaches.

Research services

Analytical chemistry, Molecular biology

Sectors of application
  • Chemical industries
  • Clean technology
  • Energy
  • Environmental technologies and related services
  • Mining, minerals and metals
Equipment Function
Gas chromatograph-Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) Analysis of oil and oil-related components
Gas chromatograph-Thermal Conductivity Detector (GC-TCD) Analysis of gases related to petroleum and microbial metabolism
Gas chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) Hydrocarbon and microbial metabolite analysis
High Pressure Liquid/Ion Chromatograph Analysis of anions and a variety of water soluble components
Thermocyclers Regular and quantitative thermocyclers to amplify and quantify genes
Centrifuges Processing of cells and subcellular components for biodegradation studies and enzymatic transformations
Microtox® Measures toxicity as indicator of successful biodegradation/biodetoxification
  • Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance
  • Canada School of Energy and Environment
  • Genome Canada
  • InnoTech Alberta
Title URL
Research Project Focuses on Microbial-Induced Pipeline Corrosion, Materials Performance (NACE International), March 2017, Vol. 56, No. 3, pp. 14-17.  http://www.materialsperformance.com/articles/material-selection-design/2017/05/research-project-foc…