by Sam Fletcher, Senior Writer Energy markets were surprised in late August first by the seemingly sudden collapse of Moammar Gadhafi's dictatorship after months of impasse and then by the fizzle of Hurricane Irene, billed as possibly the worst storm in 50 years as it churned toward the concentration of government agencies and national media in the US Northeast. Despite even US President Barack Obama warning East Coast residents to run for higher ground, Irene's potential "pinwheel of death" turned out to be not much more than a heavy rain envied by Texas and many other drought-stricken states. There was no major damage to refineries, and most petroleum distribution facilities c...