Microbial Bioinformatics in the Oil and Gas Industry: Applications to Reservoirs and Processes

Kenneth Wunch, PhD, holds the position of Energy Technology Advisor at DuPont in Houston responsible for business development, technology transfer, and shaping the innovation pipeline and strategy for global oil and gas applications. He earned a PhD in environmental microbiology at Tulane University followed by an Exxon-funded post-doc working on bioremediation of the Valdez spill and Prince William Sound. He then accepted a professorship at the Texas Research Institute for Bioenvironmental Studies and became Director of the SHSU Disease Vector Program for the Air Force Border Health and Environmental Threats Initiative. Dr. Wunch moved into petroleum microbiology at Baker Hughes with responsibilities in oilfield production chemistry and development and application of technologies associated with oilfield microbiology, microbially influenced corrosion, sulfide control, and corrosion inhibition. He later moved to BP as a production microbiologist with responsibilities in development and implementation of R&D strategies for reservoir souring and MIC before his current role at DuPont. Dr. Wunch is the author of more than 40 publications and patents and has chaired several committees, including SPE/NACE Deepwater Field Life Corrosion Prevention, Detection, Control and Remediation, International Symposium on Applied Microbiology and Molecular Biology in Oil Systems (ISMOS), NACE Control of Problematic Microorganisms in the Oil and Gas Industry, and the Energy Institute and Reservoir Microbiology Forum.

Marko Stipanicev, PhD, is Technical Expert at Schlumberger (Sandsli, Norway). He earned a master's degree in chemical engineering and technology at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, in 2009. In 2013 he earned a PhD in environmental process at the Laboratoire de Génie Chimique (LGC), Université de Toulouse and Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (INPT), France. In 2010, he was employed at DNV (Det Norske Veritas) at the Department for Material Technology and Corrosion, where he was responsible for the development project targeting biocorrosion management, and in addition he provided consultancy activities for the oil and gas industry. In a role of research engineer Dr. Stipanicev was expanding DNV Bergen laboratory capacities to microbiology and advanced electrochemistry. During this period, he was a member of the BIOCOR ITN network.

Thereafter Dr. Stipanicev worked as Corrosion Specialist and Corrosion Discipline Lead at Schlumberger Production Technologies Scandinavia, where currently he is Technical Expert and Subject Metter Expert (SME) in the domain of oilfield corrosion, microbiology, and H2S treatment.

Dr. Stipanicev is a member of an International Symposium on Applied Microbiology and Molecular Biology in Oil Systems (ISMOS) TSC. He is an international scientific reviewer and the author of more than 20 technical and scientific papers and conference proceedings related to oilfield corrosion, microbiology, scale, and H2S treatment.

Max Frenzel, PhD, is Senior Microbiologist at Crown Technology UK responsible for microbiology and analytical chemistry. In 2007 he earned a PhD in oilfield microbiology on persistence and bioremediation of unresolved complex mixtures (UCMs) of hydrocarbons in the environment at the University of Exeter and Plymouth University, UK. Between 2007 and 2008 he was employed as a postdoctoral researcher in microbiology at the University of Exeter. In 2008 he was employed as a researcher at the Department of Marine Environmental Technology at SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, Trondheim, Norway. In this role he was focused on the fate and effects of oil spills in the environment, improving heavy oil recovery by MEOR, and the impact of pollution nanoparticles on the marine environment. Between 2010 and 2020 he was employed at Oil Plus Ltd where he was the focal point for consultancy projects in oilfield microbiology and production chemistry. During this time, he was subject matter expert in MIC, reservoir souring, and calcium naphthenate formation. Dr. Frenzel is the author of numerous technical papers and conference proceedings and a past member of the International Symposium on Applied Microbiology and Molecular Biology in Oil Systems (ISMOS) TSC.