Corrosion in pipelines and reservoir tanks in oil plants is a serious problem in the global energy industry because it causes substantial economic losses associated with frequent part replacement and can lead to potential damage to entire crude oil fields. Previous studies revealed that corrosion is mainly caused by microbial activities in a process currently termed microbiologically influenced corrosion or biocorrosion. Identifying the bacteria responsible for biocorrosion is crucial for its suppression. In this study, we analyzed the microbial communities present at corrosion sites in oil plant pipelines using comparative metagenomic analysis along with bioinformatics and statistics. We analyzed the microbial communities in pipelines in an oil field in which groundwater is used as injection water. We collected samples from four different facilities in the oil field. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the microbial community structures greatly differed even among samples from the same facility. Treatments such as biocide administration and demineralization at each location in the pipeline may have independently affected the microbial community structure. The results indicated that microbial inspection throughout the pipeline network is essential to prevent biocorrosion at industrial plants. By identifying the bacterial species responsible for biocorrosion, this study provides bacterial indicators to detect and classify biocorrosion. Furthermore, these species may serve as biomarkers to detect biocorrosion at an early stage. Then, appropriate management such as treatment with suitable biocides can be performed immediately and appropriately. Thus, our study will serve as a platform for obtaining microbial information related to biocorrosion to enable the development of a practical approach to prevent its occurrence.

石油工厂的管道和储罐中的腐蚀在全球能源行业中是一个严重的问题，因为它会导致与频繁更换零件有关的大量经济损失，并可能对整个原油油田造成潜在损害。先前的研究表明，腐蚀主要是由微生物活动引起的，该过程目前称为微生物影响的腐蚀或生物腐蚀。识别造成生物腐蚀的细菌对其抑制至关重要。在这项研究中，我们使用比较宏基因组分析以及生物信息学和统计数据，分析了油厂管道腐蚀部位存在的微生物群落。我们分析了以地下水为注入水的油田管道中的微生物群落。我们从油田的四个不同设施中收集了样本。元基因组学分析表明，即使来自同一设施的样品之间，微生物群落结构也存在很大差异。管线中每个位置的杀菌剂管理和脱盐等处理都可能独立影响微生物群落结构。结果表明，整个管道网络中的微生物检查对于防止工厂内的生物腐蚀至关重要。通过确定造成生物腐蚀的细菌种类，本研究提供了用于检测和分类生物腐蚀的细菌指标。此外，这些物种可以作为生物标记物，以在早期检测生物腐蚀。然后，可以立即且适当地进行适当的处​​理，例如用适当的杀菌剂进行处理。