Introduction.

The exploitation of oil and its derivatives in Ecuador, maintains a negative record in relation to the destruction of habitats along with the formation of environmental liabilities or pools of crude oil that have contaminated the soil and water of the region. The search for new bioremediation treatments has increased in recent years due to the need to perform more rapid and low-cost cleaning works, strategically using microorganisms, plants or biocomposites to reduce the contamination by oil, heavy metals and petroleum and other compounds.

Objective.

To determine the capacity to biodegrade hydrocarbons based on native bacteria isolated from soils contaminated with oil.

Materials and methods.

Under a quantitative approach, in the experimental modality of exploratory type, 81 isolated bacteria were used from soils contaminated with petroleum. The parameters measured were the growth diameter of the bacterial colony and the formation of the degradation halo.

Results.

The bacteria studied had phenotypic and metabolic diversity, being AX15, AX67 and AX87 those that grew better, in culture media prepared with soil extracts with different concentrations of hydrocarbons.

Conclusions.

This study demonstrates the feasibility of using a bioproduct based on bacteria for the implementation of in situ or ex situ bioremediation programs in the recovery of soils contaminated with hydrocarbons.

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