Methanogen Population of an Oil Production Skimmer Pit and the Effects of Environmental Factors and Substrate Availability on Methanogenesis and Corrosion Rates

Assessment of microbial communities from an oil production skimmer pit using 16S rRNA gene sequencing technique revealed massive dominance of methanogenic archaea in both the skimmer pit water and sediment samples. The dominant genera of methanogens involved are mostly the acetotrophic Methanosaeta (36-83 %), and the hydrogenotrophic Methanococcus (49 %) indicating that methanogenesis is the dominant terminal metabolic process in the skimmer pit. Further studies showed that the methanogens had their optimal activity at pH 6-6.5, salinity of 100 mM, and temperature of 35-45 °C. When appropriate substrates are available and utilized by methanogens, methane production correlates with general corrosion rates (r = +0.927; p < 0.01), and under different conditions of pH, salinity and temperature, methane production showed significantly strong positive correlations (r = +0.824, +0.827, and +0.805; p < 0.01, respectively) with general corrosion rates. To the best of our knowledge, this research work was the first to assess microbial community composition of an oil production skimmer pit at Escravos facility in Nigeria.