Although the oil industry can be one of the causes for the increases in greenhouse gas, it can, does and should continue to work imaginatively and creatively in a result oriented manner to also offer solutions to this problem, Environment Minister Leo Brincat said today.

Speaking at the opening of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers workshop, Mr Brincat said better understanding of seabed greenhouse gas emissions should not only profit the oil industry but also address environmental concerns on climate change.

"I am saying so because global warming which results in the warming of the sea can actually destabilise methane gas hydrates along the seabed and cause their gasification.

"This will result in a large increase in methane gas in the atmosphere that will accelerate global warming, particularly since methane gas is considered to be a more effective greenhouse gas than CO₂ itself."

While it is a given that seabed gas emissions are important indicators of potential hydrocarbon reservoirs, geological emissions of methane, especially from the seabed, are now acknowledged to be an important greenhouse gas source by the IPCC - The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe/European Monitoring and Evaluation Program (UNECE/MEP) emission inventory guide book.

Malta is also concerned with seabed gas emissions of carbon dioxide and methane.

The seabed between Malta and Sicily has a high concentration of such emissions from flares and mud volcanoes.

A very rough estimate of the lower limit of these gas emissions from Malta's Continental Shelf exceeds a million tonnes per year.

This can be easily ascertained by comparing this to man made greenhouse gas emissions from Malta with our intensive and ongoing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In view of this, we need to improve resolution of these seabed gas emissions by using three dimensional seismic which should potentially lead to a new understanding of the plumbing system, thus creating a whole new domain of investigation, Mr Brincat said.