Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez invited neighboring Colombia to participate in production from the oil-rich Orinoco Belt

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez invited neighboring Colombia to participate in production from the oil-rich Orinoco Belt, as the two South American nations seek to bolster their crude output.
Colombia has failed to discover new oil fields and existing reserves are in decline, Chavez said yesterday at a meeting of Latin American energy ministers in Caracas, citing an earlier conversation with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
``I propose something -- that Colombia come to the Orinoco Belt,'' Chavez said.
The Orinoco Belt, where Venezuela is quantifying and certifying one of the world's biggest oil deposits, contains heavy oil laden with sulfur, requiring upgrading before it can be processed in most refineries. The two neighbors inaugurated a pipeline in October that carries gas from Colombia to Venezuela.