Energy producers in North Dakota are expected to face new regulations soon on treating their crude oil if the state’s chief energy regulator follows through this week on promised standards aimed at ensuring that Bakken Shale crude oil can be more safely shipped by rail. The North Dakota Industrial Commission will meet on Tuesday to complete steps it proposed last month that would require oil companies as of Feb. 1 next year to start removing volatile gaseous compounds before shipping their crude on railroads crisscrossing the country. The commission’s decision will be closely watched because critics say the proposals don’t go far enough while the oil industry has complained they go too far. North Dakota has felt pressure to act amid growing concern nationwide that Bakken crude poses a higher threat in a derailment or other accident. Production of light shale oil through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, makes up the majority of the additional three million barrels a day of oil that the U.S. produces today compared with 2009. Much of that is shipped by rail, especially crude produced from Bakken Shale because of North Dakota’s lack of pipelines.