Unless a deal is inked by midnight todaytomorrow, refinery workers are going on strike, and about 60 companies will be affected:

HOUSTON (AP) — With a third contract offer rejected, some 24,000 refinery workers from the Gulf of Mexico to Montana prepared to head to the picket lines Saturday just hours before an existing labor agreement expires.

The nation’s biggest refiner, Valero Energy Corp., said it would shut down some facilities if workers strike. So did European oil company BP PLC.

Shell Oil Co., the lead negotiator for the industry, along with Exxon Mobil Corp., said its refineries would continue to make gasoline, diesel and other fuels using nonunion or replacement workers.

They’re already turning away oil at many of the refineries, so completely shutting down a few may be no big deal – in fact, some analysts have said this is a blessing in disguise for the refiners. You know prices will go up at the pump no matter what if a strike is announced, because that is the way this stuff always goes.

Oh, and I’m very glad there’s not a reality show about refining guys like there is about drillers. It would be even less interesting to tune in and watch them picket, eat a sandwich, then picket some more.