Extensive laboratory and field tests have shown that the gelation response of gellan gum to saline water makes it a promising candidate for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The objective of this mini-review is to evaluate the applicability of gellan gum in EOR and compare its efficiency to other precursors, in particular, hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM). At first, the “sol-gel” phase transitions of gellan gum in aqueous-salt solutions containing mono- and divalent cations are considered. Then the rheological and mechanical properties of gellan in diluted aqueous solutions and gel state are outlined. The main attention is paid to laboratory core flooding and field pilot tests. The plugging behavior of gellan in laboratory conditions due to “sol-gel” phase transition is discussed in the context of conformance control and water shut-off. Due to its higher strength, gellan gum gel provided ~6 times greater resistance to the flow of brine in a 1 mm-width fracture compared to HPAM gel. The field trials carried out in the injection and production wells of the Kumkol oilfield, situated in Kazakhstan, demonstrated that over 6 and 11 months, there was an incremental oil recovery of 3790 and 5890 tons, respectively. To put it into perspective, using 1 kg of dry gellan resulted in the incremental production of 3.52 m³ (or 22 bbls) of oil. The treatment of the production well with 1 wt.% gellan solution resulted in a considerable decrease in the water cut up to 10–20% without affecting the oil flow rate. The advantages and disadvantages of gellan compared to HPAM are analyzed together with the economic feasibility of gellan over HPAM. The potential for establishing gellan production in Kazakhstan is emphasized. It is anticipated that gellan gum, manufactured through fermentation using glucose–fructose syrup from Zharkent and Burunday corn starch plants, could be expanded in the future for applications in both the food industry and oil recovery.

Exopolysaccharides (EPS) represent an important tool for application in bio- and phytoremediation technologies due to their ability to enhance water and nutrient retention, support microclimate stability, and protect plants from environmental stress. In the present study, xanthan-like EPS produced by Xanthomonas translucens TRK8 was precipitated by ethanol and isopropanol, with the former yielding 9.2 g L⁻¹ compared with 6.7 g L⁻¹ obtained with the latter. The monosaccharide profile of the TRK8-derived EPS indicated a branched structure composed of rhamnose, mannose, glucose, and galactose residues, containing both α- and β-type pyranose units. The rheological properties of the studied EPS were compared with those of commercial xanthan at concentrations of 1–3 wt.%. Fitting the obtained data to the Ostwald–de Waele power-law model revealed that the flow behaviour index (n) values were below 1 (−0.338, −0.499, and −0.647, respectively), indicating shear-thinning behaviour (i.e., pseudoplasticity). The potential of the TRK8-derived EPS as a plant protection agent was validated by coating barley seeds with 2 wt.% EPS, resulting in a 28.6% increase in shoot length and a 64.7% increase in root length relative to the oil-stressed control.