Colombia: Venezuela's PDVSA intends to terminate pipeline contract with Ecopetrol

Edwin Palma, Colombia's Energy?Minister, said Venezuela's PDVSA state oil?company intends to terminate a contract with Colombia Ecopetrol?over?the Antonio Ricaurte?pipeline. He claimed that there was not enough?investment in its repair.

Palma, in a Saturday post on X, said that the government planned to meet the U.S. Government on Monday to discuss the lifting of sanctions against Venezuela and normalizing commercial relationships.

The announcement comes a day following a high level meeting between two countries held in Caracas. Officials discussed security, US sanction and energy cooperation including repairs of the pipeline.

The Antonio Ricaurte Pipeline, which spans 225 km (140 miles) and transports 500 million cubic feet gas between the two nations, has been inactive for years.

The Colombian energy ministry said earlier this week that both countries had agreed to a plan to repair the damaged section of pipeline. PDVSA will carry out the repairs in accordance with environmental regulations and along the original path.

Palma stated that Ecopetrol and PDVSA have "political willingness" to review the agreement in 2011. However, sanctions must be lifted to allow normal commercial relations to resume.

Palma said that Colombia has also approved licenses for the importation of 1,26 million gallons per month of liquefied petrol gas from Venezuela.

Palma added that the talks included a 'proposal by ISA Intercolombia for investments in electrical infrastructure, and connection between Colombia & Venezuela via La Guajira - a region 'with significant green energy potential.

ISA, a conglomerate controlled by Colombia's Ecopetrol state-run company, oversees energy, telecommunications, and roads across Latin America. (Reporting and writing by Nelson Bocanegra, editing by Chizu Nomiyama).

(source: Reuters)