In Mexico, there are extensive areas polluted by oil spills. Currently, bioremediation technologies have been developed, using microorganisms to clean up oil sites. In this study, we evaluated the development of a hydrocarbonoclastic bacterial strain, using a completely randomized 3x3x4 factor arrangement: three temperatures, three pH, and four nutrients. We collected samples of soil contaminated with 3.45 x 10(5) mg kg(-1) (345,000 ppm) Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH), located at the Ejido Jose N. Rovirosa, Huimanguillo, Tabasco, Mexico. The samples were grown in a culture medium Nutrient Agar (NA), obtaining a bacterial strain, which was characterized and classified as Proteus sp. The strain was grown in a combined carbon culture medium and then in a liquid mineral medium with crude oil as sole carbon source. Analysis of variance and mean test were performed, using the SPSS-11.0 statistical software. The microorganisms showed the highest population growth in the treatment N(2=Triple17)pH(1=4.0)T(1=29 degrees C) with a value of 4.6 x 10(10) CFU mL(-1). To reach, by bioaugmentation, the same development of Proteus sp in a conditioned soil would allow us to implement a potential bioremediation strategy for solving the problem of soils contaminated with hydrocarbons in the state of Tabasco in particular, and in Mexico in general.