TN PETRÓLEO

South Korea has succeeded in extracting gas hydrates, a new source of energy, from the East Sea, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said.

Gas hydrates are ice-like, gas-containing minerals that form at low temperatures and high pressures in deep seas.

The size of the reserves will be confirmed when the exploration and production team formed by state-owned Korea Gas Corp.(036460.SE), Korea National Oil Corp. and Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources begins drilling five sites in September, the ministry said in a statement Sunday.

Exploration began in 2005, and around 600 million tons of gas hydrates could lie under the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, an energy ministry official said previously.

That volume is equivalent to around 30 years of South Korea`s liquefied natural gas imports.

South Korea plans to spend about KRW225.7 billion on the gas hydrate extraction project, with a goal to begin commercial production in 2015, the ministry said.