The challenge to meet the ever growing energy consumption
is the driving force behind the efforts for enhanced oil recovery
(EOR) in the past decades. Consequently, various EOR methods
are being evaluated including the microbial enhanced oil recovery
known as the MEOR process in depleted oil reservoirs [1]. Several
mechanisms have been proposed to explain the effects of bacterial
growth on the oil reservoirs sweep efficiency, among which
is the reduction of interfacial tension (IFT) [2]. On the other hand,
petroleum hydrocarbon as the main source of energy in the world,
with its wide scale transportation and consumption increases the
risk of leakage, leading to soil and water contamination [3]. Crude
oil components are of environmental concern due to their toxic
properties [4–6] and are deleterious to a wide spectrum of plants,