Bacterial gas fields discovered in Hungary

Abstract

The author gives an overview about the primary and secondary bacterial processes. Most of the bacterial gas fields discovered in Hungary, methane of which is isotopically very light on the basis of carbon isotope ratio data, were generated by the primary bacterial processes. These gas fields can be found in depths of  to  500 to 1500 m, and are located in the uplifted parts of Hajduság, Nagykunság areas and Békés basin. Considering that the generated bacterial methane was not enough to form gas phase, the creation of the fields was due to the uplift of the basin parts. In some cases, the thermogenic methane contributed to the increasing of the gas saturation in water, which vertically migrated from deep-seated sources into the shallow reservoirs.