First California, now the entire nation

The California economy is still reeling from the huge financial hit it took when Enron and others "gamed" the electrical energy market by shutting down power generating plants under false pretenses to create shortages so bad that the state had to institute "rolling black outs".  We all remember reading transcripts of the tapes which captured energy traders chortling about putting "grandma in the dark".

Well, guess what folks.  The oil and gas industry apparently is following Enron's lead

Today Bloomberg reports that

"Oil prices climbed as refinery shutdowns in Texas, Louisiana and Venezuela threatened to curb fuel supplies. U.S. gasoline inventories are down 5.7 percent since the end of February, more than double the five-year average, boosting demand for crude to fill gaps in fuel output."

Further down in the article they report that:

"A gasoline-making unit at a Lake Charles, Louisiana, refinery owned by ConocoPhillips, the largest U.S. refiner, yesterday failed to start after maintenance, Reuters reported, without naming its source. Conoco spokeswoman Laura Hopkins declined to comment.

San Antonio-based Valero, the third-largest U.S. refiner, on April 18 said a coker at its St. Charles, Louisiana, plant will be shut until at least April 26, halting 336,000 gallons of daily gasoline output and 1.05 million gallons of daily distillate production. Distillates include diesel and heating oil.

A Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery owned by Koch Industries Inc.'s Flint Hills unit slowed operations April 19 after a flange leaked, the company said in a report filed with the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality. The plant can process 300,000 barrels of crude a day.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA, South America's largest oil producer, last week stopped gasoline and diesel production at its Puerto La Cruz refinery after one of the plant's units was shut, El Nacional reported today, citing unidentified industry officials.

Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.