CERAWEEK-With reserves of its own, Colombia does not need Venezuela's gas -Ecopetrol

Colombia can go without taking Venezuelan gas because of promising offshore developments of its own, Felipe Bayon, chief executive of state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol, told Reuters. Companies have proposed reactivating a dormant gas pipeline that connects Venezuela's Western region with Colombia using a concession granted by state-run PDVSA, which financed and built the 16-year-old line.

Colombia can go without taking Venezuelan gas because of promising offshore developments of its own, Felipe Bayon, chief executive of state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol, told Reuters.

Companies have proposed reactivating a dormant gas pipeline that connects Venezuela's Western region with Colombia using a concession granted by state-run PDVSA, which financed and built the 16-year-old line. "There is gas potential in Colombia," Bayon told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. "That would be enough for Colombia and possibly for exports before decade's end," he said.

Ecopetrol also is taking part in oil and gas ventures overseas, including in the United States and Brazil. A technical team is evaluating the company's possible participation in a bidding round in Guyana that will receive bids through April, Bayon said.

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