A photo released by the Xinhua News Agency in June shows gas flaring out from a drilling platform that extracted natural gas from "combustible ice" trapped under the seafloor of the South China Sea. (AP Photo)SHANGHAI: China says it has successfully produced natural gas from methane hydrate, also known as "combustible ice", in an experimental project in the South China Sea that represents a potential major energy breakthrough. Combustible ice consists of methane trapped within water crystals, and has been identified as a potential new gas source, with the South China Sea thought to contain some of the world's most promising deposits. China has claimed huge areas of the South China Sea and continues to build military and other facilities on islands there despite an international tribunal ruling that its territorial claims are not valid. The Chinese government has promised to "actively develop" natural gas hydrate over the 2016-20 five-year plan period.

Source: Bangkok Post July 29, 2017 08:15 UTC