South American ministers of energy are to bolster Monday energy integration during an ongoing meeting in the Venezuelan island of Margarita, at the start of the First South American Energy Summit attended by 12 heads of state.

The Second Meeting of Energy Ministers of the South American Community of Nations is to discuss strategies to consolidate energy union, as the hemisphere contains both producers and consumers, Efe reported.

Venezuelan Minister of Energy Rafael Ramírez said in advance that the items in the agenda include large projects "underway," such as the Southern Great Pipeline, aimed at carrying gas from Venezuela to Argentina. The first ministerial meeting was held last September in Caracas.

Discussions include also the Venezuelan-Colombian Transoceanic Gas Pipeline and the creation of a hemispheric organization of gas producers and exporters (Oppegasur).

Ramírez noted that Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina agreed last March to boost the creation of Oppegasur.