Vietnam will probe into gas hydrates, a new source of energy, found on seabed and continental shelf to replace the gradual exhaustion of its oil and gas reserves, Bernama news agency reported. The exploitation of the solid mixture of hydro-carbon, which looks like ice, will help Vietnam meet its long-term demand for gas and gas products, thus ensuring national energy security, China's Xinhua news agency quoted a local newspaper Vietnam News as saying on Monday. Successful tapping of gas hydrates will also help strengthen research on environmental and climate change, and reduce risks in traditional exploration and exploitation of offshore oil and gas. Vietnam's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has initiated a project to research this new kind of energy, which is included in the country's overall plan on marine resources exploration and management by 2010. World gas hydrates reserves are very large, about twice that of other fossil types, the newspaper said. Vietnam has medium gas hydrates potential.
