Venezuela-Colombia Blueprint Energy Plan
Presidents Hugo Chavez (Venezuela) and Alvaro Uribe (Colombia) are meeting Thursday in Venezuela to lay out plans for energy relationships.

The encounter will take place at Paraguana Refining Center in Punto Fijo, Falcon state, 380 kilometers northeastern Caracas and 120 kilometers to the Colombian border.

Ali Rodriguez, Venezuela´s Foreign Minister, said the meeting is the continuity of an increasingly productive relationship between the two countries.

Venezuela and Colombia have agreed to jointly build a gas pipeline from Punta Ballenas in Guajira, Colombia, to a Paraguana refinery.

The minister explained that a lot of liquid fuels are being burnt at present and with this construction they can be substituted for Colombian gas.

That neighboring nation has reserves for seven years more, time enough for Venezuela to develop reserves of the so-called Urdaneta Block.

"Then we could send gas to Colombia, South and Central America," Rodriguez stressed.

The 215 km gas pipeline will cost 300 million dollars, and be assumed by Venezuela. The project was agreed in July 2004 when Chavez and Uribe signed an energy cooperation contract.

The Venezuela-Colombia summit will also deal with Colombian experiences on generation of wind power.

In addition, there is a project to build a poliduct transferring oil from the Venezuelan Caribbean to the Colombian Pacific to later be exported to Asia.