Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) is a toxic gas widespread in injected water of secondary oil recovery, having disadvantages of serious corrosion equipment, health risks, and higher operational costs. This study focused on the field application with nitrate and nitrite injection, which has been less examined in previous studies. A bioinhibitor (400 mg/L nitrate + 300 mg/L nitrite) was reinserted into the water of the M71 oilfield (Jianghan Basin, China) with serious souring. The concentration of H 2 S decreased by 83% from 30 mg/L to less than 5 mg/L; the nitrate-reducing bacteria (NRB) counts increased from 10 to 100 cfu/mL, and the sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) counts remained at low numbers (0 cfu/mL). The dominant genera in the injected water in the absence of the bio-inhibitor were Desulfuromonas, Halanaerobium, and Desulfovibrio. NRB-related Halomonas and Marinobacter and sulfide-oxidizing bacteria of Halothiobacillus and Pseudomonas were activated through competing with SRB electron donors, and sulfide-oxidizing bacteria oxidized H 2 S to S 0 or SO 4 2− to suppress SRB when the bio-inhibitor was continuously added. The nitrite inhibited SRB metabolism through suppressing sulfite reductase activity. These findings indicated that the addition of the bio-inhibitor could remove H 2 S efficiency in injected water, thereby causing water reinjection in the oil reservoir. As a result, cost-effective treatments for souring control are achieved.