Colombia's Petro wants Ecopetrol to sell its fracking operations.

The Colombian president Gustavo Petro called on Tuesday for the sale by Ecopetrol of its fracking operations within the United States in order to invest in renewable energy.

In an unusual live broadcast, the leftist leader made his request to Andres Camacho, minister of mines, energy and environment.

He said: "I would like this operation sold to invest in clean power in Colombia. I want it discussed both technically and economically." "We cannot say that we want death but not life."

The meeting took place a day after Ecopetrol had announced an agreement with Occidental Petroleum to renew their oil joint venture in the U.S. Permian Basin of Texas.

Ecopetrol, a majority state-owned company, backed out last August of a separate agreement to purchase $3.6 billion in other assets from Occidental Petroleum.

Petro

The government of President has set a goal to wean the Andean nation off fossil fuels. (Reporting and editing by Kylie Madry; Luis Jaime Acosta, Carlos Vargas)

(source: Reuters)