06-07-04 PdVSA plans to double natural gas production during the next five years and will export gas through a pipeline project planned with neighbouring Colombia. PdVSA will invest $ 9.5 bn to raise its gas output from 6.3 bn cfpd to 11 bn cf from 2004 to 2009, company officials said.
The bulk of the increased production will come from ongoing on-shore and offshore exploration projects such a Plataforma Deltana and Mariscal Sucre, among others, the company added.

The oil company will use its own funds and will also borrow from international banks such as Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase to finance the investment, Nelson Martinez, head of PdVSA Gas, told.
A considerable increase in natural gas production would leave Venezuela with plenty for exports to Colombia, Panama and other countries in Central America as well, Martinez noted.

With that in mind, PdVSA representatives as well as Venezuelan and Colombian government officials continue to work on a project for a gas pipeline that would stretchfrom Colombia's Guajira peninsula to Maracaibo, Venezuela.
Representatives from both governments as well as PdVSA and Ecopetrol, Colombia's state-owned oil company, will meet to further discuss the issue, Martinez said.