Colombia has restarted gas exports to Venezuela after completing repairs on a pipeline that had been damaged in a bomb explosion by FARC rebels.
The explosion last week severed the pipeline -- which transports 150 to 200 million cubic feet of natural gas daily to Venezuela -- causing blackouts in eight Venezuelan states, Reuters reported.
“After intense labor, we have been able to fix the fault in the Transcaribbean gas pipeline,” Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on state television on Saturday.
"It is now feeding in to our electricity systems as a matter of priority and that is balancing the national grid,” he added.
On Saturday, Venezuela also resumed daily shipments of 3,000 barrels of petroleum to Colombia after two years.
The trading restarted during an official ceremony at the Francisco de Paula International Bridge with Ramirez and the Colombian Governor of Norte de Santander William Villamizar Laguado.
Of the 150,000 gallons of fuel received, seventy percent was diesel and 30 percent gasoline.
Local authorities are expecting to deliver 3.1 million gallons monthly to Colombia, a figure expected to increase to 5 million gallons under a fuel exportation scheme of Venezuela's government.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos are due to meet on April 9 in Cartagena, after their Friday meeting was canceled due to technical problems with Chavez's plane.
Their meeting is expected to help improve diplomatic relations between the two neighboring South American countries.
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