BOGOTA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Colombian President Gustavo

Petro on Tuesday called for the sale of state oil firm

Ecopetrol's fracking operations in the United States to

invest in clean energy.

The leftist leader's request was made to his minister of

mines and energy, Andres Camacho, in an unusual live broadcast

of a cabinet meeting.

"I want this operation to be sold in order to invest in

clean energy in Colombia, to be discussed technically, and

economically," he said. "It cannot be that we are for death and

not for life."

A spokesperson for Ecopetrol said the company would not

immediately provide a comment.

The meeting came a day after Ecopetrol announced an

agreement to renew its oil joint venture with Occidental

Petroleum ( OXY ) in the U.S. Permian Basin in Texas, first

signed in 2019.

The contract extension is set to run until 2027 with the

possibility of a further extension.

The firm's Chief Executive Ricardo Roa said on Monday

Ecopetrol could drill around 91 development wells with an

investment of over $880 million this year.

Ecopetrol's Permian Basin oil and gas production rose nearly

62% in the first nine months of last year to 95,200 barrels of

oil equivalent per day, according to the firm, while output

declined elsewhere.

Last year, Ecopetrol backed out of a $3.6 billion deal to

buy a 30% stake in shale producer CrownRock from Occidental at

the eleventh hour after orders from Petro, prompting the ire of

Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub.

"We worked on that deal from March to just last week, and we

thought we were done, but President Petro of Colombia

didn't approve of it," she said in an earnings call last August.

"Unfortunately, there are others in the world like Petro and

there are some actually in the United States who believe oil and

gas should go away and believe that we shouldn't be an

industry anymore."

Petro has made weaning Colombia away from fossil fuels a key

goal of his government.

"There is no other way for humanity but to stop the path of

fossil fuels," Petro said at the meeting on Monday. "This is not

happening because the oil companies are beating us, because we

are afraid of them. I am not afraid of them."