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Based on the state’s latest statistics as of the end of February, North Dakota’s oil production has doubled in the past two years, and with the help of increased rail transportation it is being marketed nationwide.

FERC Friday approved a request by Energy Transfer Equity LP subsidiaries Trunkline LNG Co., Trunkline LNG Export and Trunkline Gas Co. to initiate a prefiling review process for their plans to build a natural gas liquefaction project and associated facilities in Lake Charles, LA.

After a chemical disclosure bill was shot down last year, critics of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in California are attempting to rekindle a fire in Sacramento to heat up both regulators and legislators, according to a report in Thursday’s Los Angeles Times. Focused on ways to create jobs, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration has shied away from the issue, fearing it could stymie growth in the energy sector.

While it is currently straining its balance sheet to accelerate infrastructure buildout, Clean Energy Fuels Corp. likes its strategic positioning to take advantage of what it considers now widespread acceptance of natural gas as the alternative fuel of choice for large trucks and a new national network of fueling stations it expects to be in place by next year, CEO Andrew Littlefair told financial analysts on an earnings call reporting more red ink for the Seal Beach, CA-based firm.

Enbridge Inc.’s board of directors said Patrick D. Daniel, president and CEO, will retire by the end of 2012. Al Monaco, currently president of gas pipelines, green energy and international, was promoted to the board of directors and is assuming the role of president. The Calgary-based energy transportation firm said Daniel will continue as CEO and a member of the board until his retirement. Daniel joined Enbridge in 1982, became executive vice president in 1988 and assumed the CEO role in 2001. Monaco joined Enbridge in 1995 and has held senior management roles at the corporate level, as well as leadership of the gas transportation, gas distribution and green energy businesses. He also helped Enbridge’s major projects division, which has been responsible for designing and constructing all of the company’s major energy infrastructure projects.

Executives at drilling and pressure pumping contractor Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. have experienced a seasonal slowdown in the northeastern U.S. energy patch, they told financial analysts during an earnings conference call.

Dallas-based J-W Energy Co. said it is consolidating midstream activities currently conducted by subsidiaries J-W Gathering Co., J-W Pipeline Co. and Q-West Energy Co. into a single subsidiary, J-W Midstream Co. The goal of the new subsidiary is to expand J-W Energy’s presence as a full-service provider of midstream services to the upstream natural gas sector. J-W Midstream operates more than 400 miles of natural gas pipeline systems in Louisiana, Texas and Wyoming, and has the capacity to gather and treat more than 600 MMcf/d at 17 facilities, the company said.

President Obama will nominate Tony Clark, who is currently chairman of the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC), to become FERC Commissioner, the White House said. Clark, a Republican, has served at the PSC since 2000. He is the immediate past president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and served in the North Dakota House of Representatives from 1994 to 1997. He holds bachelor’s degrees from North Dakota State University and a master’s of public administration from the University of North Dakota. If approved by the Senate, Clark would join Chairman Jon Wellinghoff and Commissioners Philip Moeller, John Norris and Cheryl LaFleur at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Marc Spitzer, a Republican, stepped down last month after completing a five-year term on the Commission (see NGI, Dec. 19, 2011). Spitzer’s departure left the Commission with three Democrats (Wellinghoff, Norris and LaFleur) and one Republican (Moeller). According to FERC rules, his successor must be a Republican or an independent.

President Obama will nominate Tony Clark, who is currently chairman of the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC), to become FERC Commissioner, the White House said Monday.