South of the border, President Enrique Peña Nieto appears to be on track to gain approval from the General Congress of the United Mexican States to reverse decades of tight federal control over the country’s oil and gas resources. Polls in Mexico show citizens favor Peña’s idea 62 percent to 28 percent.

And in a reversal of roles, Mexico is setting an example that the United States should follow: not just permitting, but encouraging, private investment in publicly controlled energy resources.

In Mexico, stakes are high. At least one-third of the government’s revenues come from oil and gas. But Pemex, the monopoly player, has struggled of late, overseeing a 25 percent fall in Mexico’s oil production as the easy deposits have been tapped out.

Peña doubtless knows that, after managing his domestic politics, it is mainly American high-tech hydrocarbon know-how his country needs to unlock billions of untapped barrels in its enormous shale deposits and the monster fields deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Given the proximity, American companies both large and small and their workers will be co-beneficiaries of a Mexican energy revival.

via Time for U.S. to emulate Mexico? Page 1 of 2 | UTSanDiego.com.