India, March 19 -- Colombia said it is seeking an exemption from US sanctions to invest in Venezuelan electricity projects and natural gas ventures that could include the reopening of a gas pipeline between the neighbouring South American countries.

Colombia's Mines and Energy Minister Edwin Palma said in a statement that his country is seeking a license to invest in Venezuela from the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control or OFAC, and that the Colombian state-run oil company Ecopetrol is conferring with US officials about the regulatory requirements to launch several ventures with the Venezuelan Government.

The United States has been easing sanctions against Venezuela's oil industry following a US military raid that captured t...