For those of you with concerns about this problem who heat with oil or propane, you'll want to make sure you take the following advice. Also, getting tanks filled a little earlier than usual will no doubt help you (and distributors) avoid the extra confusion that's likely to occur at the end of this year...

DOE: FILL YOUR OIL TANK BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR
(Source: Tom Doggett, BOSTON GLOBE/REUTERS, 04/23/1999)

Homeowners should take the precaution of filling their home heating oil tanks for the upcoming winter before New Year's Day 2000, just in case computer problems disrupt petroleum supplies, according to Robert Kripowicz, Deputy Assistant for Fossil Energy at the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY. Kripowicz told a Senate committee that his department was cautiously optimistic that there will not be disruptions in the nation's oil supplies because of the so-called millennium bug, but he said households and businesses ought to have a backup fuel plan just in case. "Similarly, power generators and large industrial consumers may want to purchase some additional [petroleum] inventory well in advance of the year-end as a contingency or hedge against prices," Kripowicz added. Testifying at the same Senate hearing, Rear Admiral George Naccara of the U.S. COAST GUARD, cautioned the public NOT to hoard petroleum products or fill tanks a day or two before New Year's Day, because that could disrupt energy supplies. The Coast Guard is assessing the computer readiness of 50 key international ports. (JG)

Link:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/113/nation/Y2K_hint__Keep_oil_tank_full+.shtml

-- Bill (billdale@lakesnet.net), May 02, 1999