Saudi To Host Regional Meet On Y2K Cooperation

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Saudi To Host Regional Meet On Y2K Cooperation

Updated 12:15 PM ET September 12, 1999

MANAMA (Reuters) - The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) said Sunday it was to host a meeting on the millennium bug, bringing together regional states to identify areas where coordinated initiatives could be of benefit.

"The purpose of this meeting is to broaden the understanding of Y2K efforts underway in these countries and exchange views," SAMA, the kingdom's central bank, said in a statement. The meeting is to be held in Jeddah on September 14 and 15.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Zimbabwe were due to attend the meeting, SAMA said.

The millennium bug or Y2K problem could arise from older computers and software which only use the last two digits to denote a year. If uncorrected, computer systems may read 2000 as 1900, or just shut down altogether come the turn of the century.

SAMA said all the kingdom's commercial banks had already completed Y2K testing requirements for all internal mission critical systems by the end of April. They had also completed the development of detailed contingency plans for their main systems, SAMA said.

"They are now progressing with the testing and training of these (contingency) plans, which is scheduled for completion on September 30," the statement said.

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Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), September 12, 1999

Answers

I personally think Saudi & Kuwaiti oil will flow with only minor delays and probs on the rollover. They have the money, the credit lines and the major oil company expertise to address things. The one variable : do they have enough time? We have certainly read numerous posts on this forum about individuals going there to try and fix things. The effort is being extended.

Conversely, the Iranians came out earlier this year with a very public plea for help on y2k. They've been a fiscal dry hole for 20 years with tens of $billions of foreign debts coming due in the late 90s. They've had no credit lines availiable through this recent oil price rout right when y2k remediation efforts were needed. Unlike the other Gulf producers they have smaller, mature, more complex production operations that require gas injections and other secondary recovery techniques. I assume more complex means more y2k probs or are their pre-embargo systems (1970s mostly) too technologically rudimentary for y2k probs?

Everyone is focusing on the Saudis and the developed world. How about Iran (3.8m bls/d), Algeria (.8 mb/d), Libya (1.4mb/d), Syria (.6 mb/d) and the other bankrupt renegades that don't have the funds, relations with the West nor the expertise?

-- Downstreamer (downstream@bigfoot.com), September 12, 1999.


Money alone will not solve the Y2K problem, you also need time, something you cannot buy. If the Saudi's started too late, then they will have problems.

-- Skeptic (noone@imnotsaying.com), September 12, 1999.

If you think you're going to get oil-related products at anywhere near today's prices come January, think again.

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), September 12, 1999.

September 14-15...about 3 1/2 months left. Lots that we can do in that time...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), September 12, 1999.

Did I miss the invention of the "Silver Bullet Fix?"

-- no talking please (breadlines@soupkitchen.gov), September 12, 1999.


Did I miss the invention of the "Silver Bullet" fix?

-- no talking please (breadlines@soupkitchen.gov), September 12, 1999.

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