As one of the main oil production countries, China pays great attention to the study and application of new technologies to enhance oil recovery. Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR), an advanced technology, is one of the focuses. This paper gives a brief review on the history of the MEOR development and of laboratory-based and field application programmes. Mechanisms of MEOR are presented. Microorganisms can produce gases, acids, surfactants, polymers, all of which are capable of an effective improvement on the hydrocarbon structure, decreasing viscosity and also flooding oil physically under an increased pressure. Early field trials were initiated to utilize microorganisms to recover residual oil or gas. The microorganisms and their reaction products critically have an effect on oil and gas production in many reservoirs in China. Concerning research on metabolites, several field applications in some oil fields indicate that it is very significant to accurately analyse and evaluate metabolites and further select the most suitable microbe. Moreover, the MEOR program is applied in extra-heavy crude oilfields with relatively good results.
