Colombia To Boost Natural Gas Supplies To Venezuela

Colombia will increase natural gas shipments to Venezuela by some 50% later this year, Colombian Energy Minister Mauricio Cardenas said Friday.

Colombia will boost supplies to 250 million cubic feet in June and then to 300 million cubic feet by September as part of an energy accord between the neighboring South American countries, Cardenas said.

Venezuela has been importing close to 200 million cubic feet a day from Colombia for power generation along its western border region.

Both countries have been increasing economic ties through their respective state oil companies. 

In late March, Colombian state-controlled energy firm Ecopetrol SA (EC, ECOPETROL.BO) said it plans to work with Petroleos de Venezuela, or PdVSA, to revitalize already developed oil fields in western Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo.

Venezuela and Colombia are also working on building a joint 600,000-barrel-a-day oil pipeline that would run between the countries, giving Venezuela access to Colombia's Pacific coast from which it plans to target Asian markets. 

PdVSA officials have said they plan to lay out an engineering plan by December.