National Petroleum Corp. officials met with the Colombian government to discuss possible investment in oil exploration and production as well as a pipeline project.

The meeting in Shanghai today included talks about a pipeline that would link Venezuela to Colombia’s Pacific coast, Colombia’s Mines and Energy Ministry said in an e-mail.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos visited China this week to announce the start of talks for a trade agreement to increase exports from his nation. Colombia is South America’s largest coal producer and its third-largest oil supplier after Brazil and Venezuela.

China, the world’s largest energy consumer, has expanded investment in Colombia as it buys more oil, coal and copper from across Latin America to supply its demand for energy and raw materials. Sinochem Group said earlier today it will cooperate on a Colombian pipeline project with China Development Bank and Ecopetrol SA (ECOPETL), Colombia’s state-run oil company.

China also is interested in supplies of higher-priced metallurgical coal, used to process steel, and may accelerate development of mines producing coltan, used in mobile phones, according to the ministry.