The objective of the work reported in this document was to determine whether the bioluminescent luciferin/luciferase based adenosine triphosphate (ATP) assay could be used as a rapid field tests for determining the presence and numbers of microorganisms in oil field fluids. The ATP-photometric technique employed is based on the ATP-mediated bioluminescent oxidation of firefly luciferin. Light production is stoichiometrically related to ATP concentration; ATP concentration is related to numbers of living organisms present in a sample. Samples used in this study comprised reservoir fluids collected from several Southern California oilfields. Based on experimental evidence, it was concluded that the ATP assay could be profitably applied to Microbially Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) process monitoring and control. The theoretical basis for the assay, field-usage methodologies, and fundamentals of data interpretation are presented to make the document usable as a field manual.