Colombia Notches Progress With Venezuela on Natural Gas Trade
(Bloomberg) -- Senior officials from Venezuela and Colombia met in Caracas as the government of outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro seeks to secure natural gas imports to help plug a growing shortfall of the critical fuel used in factories and for cooking.
The meeting between acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez and Colombian Energy Minister Edwin Palma made progress on the gas supplies while also discussing upgrades to cross-border infrastructure including a pipeline and power lines connecting the two South American neighbors, according to a statement from Palma’s office.
The statement noted that the encounter between Rodríguez and Colombia’s energy chief comes ahead of an expected meeting between the Venezuelan leader and Petro, but it did not specify when that would happen.
Colombia has been forced to rely on expensive liquefied natural gas imports as domestic supplies fall. While Bogotá and Caracas had previously announced that Venezuelan gas exports could begin by the end of 2024, US sanctions on Venezuela and its oil industry proved to be a major obstacle.
A first step toward allowing more Venezuelan gas to flow will require repairing a badly damaged section of the 224-kilometer (139-mile) pipeline connecting the two countries.
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