Oil-Eating Microbes Found in Alaska
Japanese researchers surveying potential oil fields in Alaska -- opened for drilling six months ago by the Alaskan Provisional Government -- discovered signs of depleted reserves, and the presence of an engineered form of Alcanivorax borkumensis, a naturally-occurring bacteria able to feed on oil. The natural form of A. borkumensis works slowly; the engineered version, not yet given a specific name, appears to consume oil at a much faster pace.
A spokesperson from the Alaska Department of Energy and Mining stated that the amount of oil "corrupted" by this microbe is small, a claim that the researchers would not endorse. "We simply do not yet know," said one Japanese researcher, who asked that we not give his name. "It is entirely possible that this delivers a death-blow to the already-shaky Alaska oil program."
Neither the researchers nor the ADEM spokesperson could offer any information on the origins of the bacteria.