A key question that constrains accuracy of temperature compensation based biodegradation rate predictions is how temperature influences crude oil biodegradation. As introduced earlier, the Q10 approach is accepted describing this relationship, and a Q10 of 2 is implemented in the OSCAR model. However, the literature data gathered herein does not corroborate the choice of Q10 = 2. The average Q10 determined from literature survey was almost 40% higher than this rule of thumb and a large variation was shown among the calculated 32 Q10 values. Also, the Q10 values determined during the reported laboratory experiment are not in agreement with the rule of thumb. Due to the variation in observed Q10 values, establishing a better range of Q10 values as rule of thumb would be controversial and ambitious. In fact, the proposed universal temperature dependence theory (UTD), which suggests that Ea values for all metabolic activities range between 57.9 and 67.5 kJ mol−1 (Q10 values between 2.3 and 2.7), is still under debate ( Brown et al., 2004; Clarke, 2004). This range cannot be chosen as a best estimate for an alternative rule of thumb for crude oil biodegradation based on data presented herein as only 6 of the 32 different Q10 values (19%) determined during the literature survey fell within this proposed range.