الفهرس 
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Abstract
Petroleum has always entered the biosphere by natural seepage but at rates much
slowerthan those of the forced recovery of petroleum by drilling, which is estimated to
beabout two billion metric tons per year.
The production, transportation, refining and ultimately the disposal of used
petroleum and petroleum products inevitably result in environmental pollution.
Petroleum pollutants in the environment are destructive to birds and marine life and,
when driven ashore, cause heavy economical losses due to aesthetic damage to
recreationalbeaches.
The successful biodegradation removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from sea and
soils depends on the enzymatic capacities of microorganisms and various abiotic factors.
Microbial hydrocarbon degradation requires suitable growth temperatures and available
suppliesof fixed forms of nitrogen, phosphorus (fertilizers) and molecular oxygen.
The potential usefulness of bioremediation to clean soils, sediments and aquifer
materials contaminated with oil and petroleum hydrocarbon has been recognized for
some time. The recognition of oil as a complex but largely biodegradable mixture of
hydrocarbons and the knowledge that hydrocarbon degraders can be enriched in many, if
not most, types of environments, has contributed greatly to the development of oil
bioremediation technologies. In addition, bioremediation is rapidly gaining acceptance as
a viable technology and if used prudently can provide efficient, inexpensive and
environmentallysafe cleanup of waste chemicals.