MEXICO CITY (AP) — The United States and Mexico are looking to boost energy ties as the two countries prepare for the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, officials said Thursday.

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who met in Mexico with his counterpart, Pedro Joaquin Coldwell, called the United States' southern neighbor "a very, very important partner" on energy.

Joaquin Coldwell said his country plans two new pipelines to import U.S. natural gas in addition to the 17 that already exist.

Mexico's energy sector was wholly state-run for decades until a 2013 energy overhaul a...