Natural and stimulated biodegradation of petroleum in cold marine environments

Abstract

The cold regions of the world represent some of the largest biotopes on the Earth, including the Arctic, Antarctic, and the permanently cold parts of the oceans. The oil industry is looking for new exploration and production activities both in the polar and the deepwater regions, increasing the risk for oil discharges in these vulnerable environments. Oil exploration and production activities are already going on in the North American and European Arctic, and in several countries technologies are being developed for offshore oil production at water depths of more than 3,000 m. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.