The National Institute for Petroleum and Energy Research (NIPER) has maintained a microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) field project data base since 1985. One of the major goals of this data base is to continue to document characteristics of reservoirs used for MEOR field projects and to assist the US Department of Energy by revising published screening criteria for MEOR processes. Since the last update of this data base in 1987, the number of MEOR field projects entered has increased from 39 to 65. Microbial EOR has been recognized as a potentially cost-effective method, particularly for stripper well production. Stripper wells are particularly in need of cost-effective EOR because independent operators produce about 40% of the total oil recovered, but cannot conduct needed EOR research. Microbial methods for improving oil recovery are potentially cost-effective and particularly well suited to be applied in today's economic climate. The lower price of crude oil as well as a more general acceptance of use of biotechnological processes has probably contributed to this increase. Although in some instances information was unavailable or not reported for each element of the data base, there exists adequate data to demonstrate both the viability and variety of options formore » using microbial technology for improved oil production. this report updates the data base and provides summary of several of the more important MEOR field experiments conducted during the 1970s and 1980s. 19 refs., 1 fig., 11 tabs.« less