North America’s energy chiefs agreed to collaborate so the region’s power needs are met, even as disagreements over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline split the governments of U.S. and Canada.

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz was joined by Mexico Energy Secretary Pedro Joaquin Coldwell and Greg Rickford, Canada’s minister of natural resources, at a news conference on Dec. 15 in Washington to announce the modest pact, which includes plans to share more energy information.

“Our data are not always consistent or available to us,” Moniz said.

While Keystone wasn’t the focus, Rickford told reporters the project to carry oil sands from Alberta to Gulf of Mexico refineries would help the U.S. end its dependence on unreliable sources of oil.

The three-nation talks took place as global oil prices fall to the lowest in five years, possibly putting a dent in the surge of domestic production from shale drilling.

North America is the world’s second-largest oil-producing region, behind the Middle East, and output rose by 1.4 million barrels a day last year, the most of any oil region. The region produces the most natural gas, seen by economists as making up a larger share of energy consumption over the next half century.

Although the Energy Department estimates U.S. oil production was still rising through September, 24 North American drilling rigs, or 1.7%, were idled in the past three weeks as prices have tumbled, according to Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) data.

Mexico Plans

Mexico meanwhile is reopening its energy reserves to foreign investment to raise cash and reverse production declines. Production-sharing contracts will be sold on 14 shallow water drilling blocks next year, Mexico’s energy ministry said Dec. 11.

President Barack Obama’s administration is continuing its review of the Keystone project, which would connect Alberta’s oil sands to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries. TransCanada Corp. (NYSE, TSE: TRP) first proposed the project in 2008. Moniz didn’t discuss the pipeline at the news conference.

The administration has paused its review until the resolution of a court challenge to the pipeline’s path in Nebraska.

Environmentalists say the pipeline would worsen climate change risks by encouraging development of the oil sands, which are more carbon intensive than other forms of oil.

Backers say it will create jobs and improve U.S. energy security.