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Energy and Mines Minister Edwin Palma met on March 17, 2026 with U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Jarahn Hillsman and his economic team to review bilateral cooperation and investment opportunities across Colombia’s energy sector.

Based on a MinEnergia press release…

The meeting covered gas development, illegal mining, the Colombia-Panama electrical interconnection, and community energy initiatives — but its most politically significant agenda item was the Colombia-Venezuela energy integration dossier.

The two delegations discussed progress on rehabilitating the binational electrical interconnection and reactivating the Antonio Ricaurte gas pipeline, the 225-kilometer infrastructure connecting Lake Maracaibo to La Guajira that has been idle since the last decade.

“Strengthening regional energy integration is an opportunity to guarantee greater energy security for Colombia and for the Caribbean. We have spoken with the U.S. government about the importance of advancing projects such as the electrical interconnection with Venezuela and the recovery of the Antonio Ricaurte pipeline, which will complement our energy capacities,” Palma said. He added a broader strategic vision: “Colombia has the potential to become an energy integration hub in Latin America. Cooperation with neighboring countries, together with international investment, will allow us to strengthen supply, drive clean energy and bring development to the territories.”

Both delegations agreed on the importance of maintaining permanent dialogue to promote investment and advance regional energy security.

Bottom-Line: This meeting was important, especially for accelerating the Venezuelan gas solution to Colombia’s dwindling supply, but we have questions about the broader strategy. Colombia simply doesn’t have the generating capacity to think about significant exports to its neighbors.

With El Niño looming – and IDEAM saying it might come earlier – solving the gas shortage problem for thermogeneration as quickly as possible is the priority.

Venezuela will not come online as quickly as MinEnergia says (or perhaps even thinks) it will, but if it can be accomplished it will be a cheaper solution than more regas capacity and faster than offshore gas.