Colombia seeks a US sanctions exemption to invest in Venezuelan energy projects

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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia said Tuesday it is seeking an exemption from U.S. sanctions to invest in Venezuelan electricity projects and natural gas ventures that could include the reopening of a gas pipeline between the neighboring South American countries.

Colombia's Mines and Energy Minister Edwin Palma said in a statement that his country is seeking a license to invest in Venezuela from the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, and that the Colombian state-run oil company Ecopetrol is conferring with U.S. officials about the regulatory requirements to launch several ventures with the Venezuelan government.

The United States has been easing sanctions against Venezuela’s oil industry following a U.S. military raid that captured then-President Nicolás Maduro. The shift has enabled several U.S. companies to buy and sell Venezuelan oil.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has long been a critic of U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, which he blamed for the nation’s protracted economic crisis.

Colombia’s interest in Venezuela’s natural gas was revived in 2022, when Petro was elected into office and restored diplomatic relations with Venezuela. But U.S. sanctions against companies that invest in Venezuela had prevented Colombia’s national oil company from developing projects there.

Companies, or government entities that invest in Venezuela without a special U.S. license risk severe penalties, such as being cut off from the U.S. financial system, or having their assets in the U.S. seized.

In December 2024, Colombia began to import gas on a massive scale after being self-sufficient for four decades, with critics saying that Petro had discouraged companies from launching new ventures in Colombia.

Last week, a meeting between Petro and Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez was canceled but bilateral meetings were held between officials representing the ministries of defense, commerce and energy.

Following those meetings, Venezuela sent Colombia a small export of liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, via tanker trucks that crossed the shared border. “This is the first step… the first LPG export from Venezuela to Colombia,” Rodríguez told reporters.

Colombian officials now say they want to reopen a pipeline between both countries that was built in 2007 but has been inactive since 2019, due to political disputes and lack of maintenance.

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