From integration to governance:

policy and institutional pillars of energy cooperation in U.S.-Mexico Relations (2001-2018)

Abstract

Energy relations between the United States and Mexico have been characterized by a constant dynamism, however, unlike other sectors, there are opposing views regarding their regionalization in which, on the one hand, a growing “integration” derived from the commercial flow of energy is identified and, on the other hand, a stagnation in the development of institutional mechanisms of interaction is observed; therefore, there is a failure in the understanding and conceptualizing the processes of cooperation in such area. In this sense, this article seeks to identify the way in which the cooperation processes between the two states have been carried out, highlighting both the objectives and the institutional mechanisms of negotiation during the period from 2001 to 2018. For this purpose, a descriptive method, as well as documentary analysis techniques are used. It is concluded that energy cooperation between the United States and Mexico has developed from the transgovernmental interaction between government agencies and private agents whose purpose has focused on the deployment of regulatory and normative instruments.