This would seem on the face of it to be impossible. Statistically impossible that all of these chips performed correctly or were successfully remediated. I'm going to reserve judgement for a while here. It's important to remember that the major futures markets are doing exactly that until Tuesday. I'm with them. I find it troubling that we had not ONE major flub somewhere. That's not probable or credible.

For spin purposes only: FOCUS-World energy flows trouble free after Y2K (Reuters) By William Maclean LONDON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - From Australia to Alaska, world energy producers pumped smoothly away on Saturday with strategic oil and gas flows uninterrupted by the much-feared Y2K bug. Oil consuming nations breathed a sigh of relief after potential troublespots Iraq and Russia and key OPEC powers in the Gulf, Africa and Latin America passed an uneventful night. - Jan 01 8:17 AM EST

Y2K status report on Saudi Arabia at 1240 GMT (Reuters) (Updates with Saudi Aramco statement paragraph three) RIYADH, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Following is a rundown on how officials say Saudi Arabia has come through the millennium bug problems in the following critical areas: electricity, telecommunications, water distribution, aviation and banking. ENERGY: Shipping sources said OPEC member Saudi Arabia -- the world's largest oil producer and exporter -- did not experience any Y2K problems in its huge energy industry. - Jan 01 7:44 AM EST

UK N.Sea crude flowing normally, operators say (Reuters) LONDON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Oil and gas output from Britain's sector of the North Sea entered the new millennium smoothly with no Y2K bug problems reported, operators said on Saturday. Companies operating U. - Jan 01 7:43 AM EST

BP Amoco says global operations normal (Reuters) LONDON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Oil supermajor BP Amoco has moved smoothly into the new millennium without any Y2K bug related disruption, spokesmen for the company said on Saturday. The London-based Anglo-American conglomerate has seen no reports of any problems in its global internal Y2k reporting system, the spokesmen in Britain and the United told Reuters. - Jan 01 5:55 AM EST

Giant Gulf oil producers exterminate Y2K bug (Reuters) By Michael Georgy DUBAI, Jan 1 (Reuters) - After months of preparation for possible Y2K mayhem in a strategic region that sits on nearly half of the world's oil reserves, giant Gulf producers appear to have squashed the dreaded millennium computer bug. Shipping and oil officials said on Saturday that it was business as usual in the Gulf, where wells were pumping crude for supply to the West and Asia after fears that the millennium bug could wreak havoc. - Jan 01 5:36 AM EST

No Y2K glitches for Nigerian oil production (Reuters) LAGOS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - All the multinational firms producing a total of about two million barrels of crude oil per day in Nigeria said on Saturday they had experienced no problems as a result of the millennium bug. Nigeria -- whose light, sweet crudes are important for U. - Jan 01 5:27 AM EST

Russia says avoids Y2K energy problems (Reuters) By Sebastian Alison MOSCOW, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Russia's energy sector, Europe's main gas supplier and one of its biggest sources of oil, successfully avoided all glitches from the millennium bug by Saturday morning. ``On the first day of 2000, all computers running the integrated gas supply system of Gazprom are working normally,'' gas monopoly Gazprom , the world's biggest gas company, said in a statement. - Jan 01 5:20 AM EST

Y2K status report on Qatar at 0950 GMT (Reuters) DOHA, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Following is a rundown on how officials say Qatar has fared in dealing with the millennium bug in the following critical areas: energy, electricity, water distribution, telecommunications, aviation and banking. Energy: A shipping source said there have been no problems with OPEC member Qatar's oil exports. - Jan 01 5:11 AM EST

Lithuanian oil concern says no Y2K problems (Reuters) VILNIUS, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Lithuania's Mazheikiu Nafta oil concern, which includes the Baltic states' only refinery, said on Saturday it entered the new year with no Y2K-related computer glitches. ``We have no problems. - Jan 01 5:11 AM EST

No Y2K problems reported at Greek oil refineries (Reuters) ATHENS, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Greece's main oil refineries were operating normally after taking the New Year in their stride, an official with Hellenic Petroleum said on Saturday. ``We had no difficulties. - Jan 01 4:57 AM EST

UK refineries pass millennium bug test-officials (Reuters) LONDON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - British oil refineries have had no problems with the millennium bug and are working normally, spokesmen and officials at the units said on Saturday. The 317,000 barrel per day (bpd) Esso (NYSE: XOM - news ) Fawley refinery at Southamption in the south of England was operating as usually, an official said. - Jan 01 4:17 AM EST

Y2K status report on the UAE at 0830 GMT (Reuters) DUBAI, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Following is a rundown on how officials say the United Arab Emirates has come through the millennium bug problems in the following critical areas: energy, electricity, telecommunications, water distribution and aviation. Energy: Shipping sources said oil export terminals and ports in the UAE were running smoothly. - Jan 01 4:03 AM EST

Y2K status report on Iran at 0820 GMT (Reuters) (Updates with official's comments at 0820 GMT) TEHRAN, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Below is a breakdown on how Iran is faring on Saturday in dealing with the millennium bug in the key areas of oil, electricity, telecommunications, water and aviation. OIL: Mohammad Sepehri-Rad, spokesman of the state's Y2K headquarters, said the situation was normal after repeated checks with industry centres across Iran. - Jan 01 3:57 AM EST

Y2K status report for Kuwait at 0817 GMT (Reuters) KUWAIT, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Following is a rundown on how officials say Kuwait has come through the millennium bug problems in the following critical areas: energy, electricity, telecommunications, water distribution and aviation. Energy: The head of the Y2K team at Kuwait Petroleum Corp, Mishari al-Obaid, said there had been no problems at OPEC member Kuwait's oil production facilities and refineries. - Jan 01 3:31 AM EST

Y2K status report on Saudi Arabia at 0800 GMT (Reuters) (Updates) RIYADH, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Following is a rundown on how officials say Saudi Arabia has come through the millennium bug problems in the following critical areas: energy, electricity, telecommunications, water distribution, aviation and banking. ENERGY: Shipping sources said OPEC member Saudi Arabia -- the world's largest oil producer and exporter, did not experience any Y2K problems in its huge energy industry. - Jan 01 3:28 AM EST

U.S. Oil Officials See No Y2K Disruption (Reuters) Officials at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said early Saturday there have been no oil supply, or energy-related disruptions after the Eastern and Central times zones passed into the Year 2000. - Jan 01 2:05 AM EST

U.S. oil officials see no Y2K disruptions (Reuters) WASHINGTON, Jan. 1 (Reuters) - Officials at the U. - Jan 01 1:53 AM EST

Venezuelan oil industry operations normal - gov't (Reuters) CARACAS, Jan 1 (Reuters) - The Venezuelan oil industry was operating normally in the first hours of the New Year, the government said Saturday. Giuseppe del Grosso, executive director of the presidential commission Venezuela Action 2000, said state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela informed the commission that it encoutered no system failures 30 minutes after midnight. - Jan 01 1:43 AM EST

Shell says safe so far from Y2K bug (Reuters) LONDON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Energy multinational Royal Dutch/ Shell said on Saturday its worldwide oil and gas operations had so far entered the new millennium safe from the Y2k computer bug. ``So far the overall position looks clear,'' a company spokesman said. - Dec 31 10:01 PM EST

UK Enterprise oil firm says no Y2K problem (Reuters) LONDON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - U.K. - Dec 31 9:40 PM EST

Spain energy sector, gas pipeline pass Y2K (Reuters) MADRID, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Spain's oil, gas and nuclear sectors shifted into the new millennium with no technical problems, and gas supplies continued flowing undisrupted from Algeria's Maghreb-Europe pipeline, officials said on Saturday. Energy companies said their refineries and nuclear plants were unaffected by the millennium bug and were operating normally. - Dec 31 9:38 PM EST

Alert: LONDON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - BP Amoco's two U.K. oil refineries are running normally and have experienced no problems with the millennium bug, spokesmen at the units said on Saturday. The 205,000 barrels per day (bpd) Grangemouth refinery and the 180,000 bpd Coryton unit came through the new year rollover smoothly, the spokesmen said. ((William Maclean London newsroom tel 44 171 542 7646 fax 44 171 542 4453 email london.energy.desk@reuters.com)) (Reuters) (This is a headline-only alert, although it will likely be followed by an article soon) - Dec 31 9:15 PM EST

BP Amoco says NSea fields producing normally (Reuters) LONDON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Anglo-American oil major BP Amoco said on Saturday all its North Sea crude production was unaffected by the Y2K computer bug. A company spokesperson said all fields operated by the company, including the Forties system, Britain's largest crude export stream, were working normally. - Dec 31 8:56 PM EST

INTERVIEW-World oil flowing smoothly so far-IEA (Reuters) By William Maclean LONDON, Jan 1 (Reuters) - The millennium bug has failed so far to damage oil and gas flows in Asia, the Middle East and Russia, boding well for world energy supplies, the West's energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency, said on Saturday. The smooth transition to the new year means the agency sees no need so far for the release of emergency stockpiles of oil, IEA deputy executive director William Ramsay told Reuters. - Dec 31 8:01 PM EST

Exxon-Mobil says Nigeria oil operations normal (Reuters) LAGOS, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Exxon-Mobil Corp.'s (NYSE: XOM - news ) Nigerian oil-producing unit said on Saturday that operations were normal after the Y2K date change. - Dec 31 7:07 PM EST

Shell, Chevron say no Nigeria Y2K oil disruption (Reuters) ``Everything was successful. There was no problem at all,'' a senior Shell official told Reuters after reports from Bonny and Forcados export terminals. - Dec 31 6:51 PM EST

No Y2K Woes Seen for U.S. Oil Abroad (Reuters) As the world partied on Friday, sober U.S. oil company officials holed up in command centers received ''A-OK'' status reports citing no Y2K indicants at operations in time zones engulfed by the Year 2000 wave. - Dec 31 6:35 PM EST

Alert: Chevron Says No Y2K Problem for Nigeria Escravos Oil Exports (NYSE:CHV) (Reuters) (This is a headline-only alert, although it will likely be followed by an article soon) - Dec 31 6:34 PM EST

Alert: Shell Says No Y2K Problems at Nigeria Bonny, Forcados Oil Terminals (Reuters) (This is a headline-only alert, although it will likely be followed by an article soon) - Dec 31 6:32 PM EST

No Y2K incidents seen for U.S. oil majors abroad (Reuters) By Haitham Haddadin NEW YORK, Dec 31 (Reuters) - As the world partied on Friday, sober U.S. - Dec 31 6:32 PM EST

IEA says no need for Y2K emergency oil supplies (Reuters) The agency holds the power to order its members, the world's major industrialised nations, to release strategic petroleum inventories at times of emergency. The IEA, the West's energy watchdog, has warned of oil supply shortages this winter if inventories fall much further and U. - Dec 31 6:11 PM EST

Energy Sec. Says No Y2K Oil Disruptions (Reuters) U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson on Friday said there have been no signs of oil supply disruptions caused by the Y2K computer rollover in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. - Dec 31 6:01 PM EST

Alert: Iea Says Sees No Disruption to World Oil Supplies So Far Due to Y2K (Reuters) (This is a headline-only alert, although it will likely be followed by an article soon) - Dec 31 5:57 PM EST

Alert: Iea Says No Need So Far to Release Emergency Oil Supplies Due to Y2K (Reuters) (This is a headline-only alert, although it will likely be followed by an article soon) - Dec 31 5:56 PM EST

Y2K status report on Iran (Reuters) TEHRAN, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Below is a breakdown on how Iran is said to be faring on Saturday in dealing with the millennium bug in the key areas of oil, electricity, telecommunications, water and aviation. Oil: Mohammad Sepehri-Rad, secretary of the state Y2K headquarters, said the situation was normal after a check with industry centres across Iran. - Dec 31 5:50 PM EST

U.S.'s Richardson says no Y2K oil disruptions yet (Reuters) WASHINGTON, Dec 31 (Reuters) - U.S. - Dec 31 5:44 PM EST

Kuwait's KPC says oil exports, refineries normal (Reuters) KUWAIT, Jan 1 (Reuters) - OPEC member Kuwait said on Saturday that its oil production facilities, export terminals and refineries were running smoothly after the new year. ``Everything is fine, oil production, exports and the refineries. - Dec 31 4:28 PM EST

Alert: Kuwait's Kpc Says Oil Production, Exports, Refineries Normal After New Year (Reuters) (This is a headline-only alert, although it will likely be followed by an article soon) - Dec 31 4:19 PM EST

Dubai Ports Authority says oil exports normal (Reuters) DUBAI, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Dubai Ports Authority said on Saturday that oil export terminals in the emirate were working normally after the new year. ``Everything is fine. - Dec 31 3:25 PM EST

Alert: Dubai Port Authority Says Oil Export Terminals Working Normally After New Year (Reuters) (This is a headline-only alert, although it will likely be followed by an article soon) - Dec 31 3:21 PM EST

No bugs for Australian oil refineries, producers (Reuters) SYDNEY, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Australia's four oil refiners said on Saturday the Y2K computer bug had not affected their operating systems and production was proceeding as normal. Esso Australia (NYSE: XOM - news ), the operator and half owner of the 200,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Bass Strait oilfields off the southeast coast of Australia, also said it was operating free of any Y2K problems. - Dec 31 11:43 AM EST

US major oils say no Y2K problems in Far East ops (Reuters) NEW YORK, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM - news ), the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said Friday it had no reports of problems related to the millennium bug in any of its operations, including its operations in the Far East where the year 2000 has already begun. - Dec 31 11:15 AM EST

Alert: Nz's Marsden Point Oil Refinery Operator Says Y2K Checks Successful, No Problems (Reuters) (This is a headline-only alert, although it will likely be followed by an article soon) - Dec 31 7:33 AM EST

-- Gordon (g_gecko_69@hotmail.com), January 01, 2000

Answers

Great post Gordon. Thanks for the good news. Hope this is the sop for the rest of the year.

-- trafficjam (road@construction.ahead), January 01, 2000.

Just back from a quick tour around town.ALL gas stations open & pumping gas.No lines,{busy last night tho.}Sheetz has a tanker filling up the tanks.AMEN.

-- calm at home (a@h.ccl), January 01, 2000.

Gordon,

I assume you saw this posted thread a little earlier from Egypt?

I'm still assessing myself and will put some thoughts together and post soon as I've got a bunch of people inquiring at my mailbox Frankly, this report below seems credible enough to me but we'll see how things transpire in the next couple of days with this story. Meanwhile if I were a PR guy for a major oil co and were experiencing problems and the top brass wanted me to dodge the issue of Y2K probs as a typical PR guy I'd make those statements by categorizing any problems as saying we're just normal today..etc etc.. and categorize any Y2k issue as simply a 'normal' problem. Of course it depends on the definition of what "is" is. --------------------

We ran into a friend of ours who works in the Brithish Petroleum Company in Egypt (top mangement) a few minutes ago and he said that they have a BIG Y2K problem. He also said that it happened just after the rollver where they were monitoring it in their crisis center. He also said that if it is not solved by tommorow morning they will have to shut down the company especially the loading and unloading of shipements. Thinking now about it, I think that no company having Y2K problems will decalre it publicly as its shares might crach in the stock market come Monday.

I think that many have problems but will not report it unless they can not solve it during the weekend.

Anyway in the Middle East the working days start on Sunday and we will know soon enough.

I will post any furthur news as they come.

-- Sheirne (SheEgypt@yahoo.com), January 01, 2000

http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=002Av5

-- RC (racambab@mailcity.com), January 01, 2000.

I have said this in earlier posts, but I think that it bears repeating. How does a country like Italy who did no Y2k work on thier systems, and in conjuction spent no money on it, and a country like the USA who did as much as they could and spent millions, have the same Y2K result. Logic sez their is something wrong with that....

Laqtis

-- Laqtis (gemini2@sprynet.com), January 01, 2000.

Gordon, Great post. My hung over fingers wouldn't have been able to find all that. I got up to check on probs. TB2000 was my first stop. Your post was the first thread. Great summation on what the press is reporting.

Looks like the DGI's actually got it and the GI's really didn't. In terms of embeddeds and the oil industry this thing looks like its gonna be a 1 or a 2. The oil industry consensus was right. I'm seeing one second hand indication of probs in Egypt and thats about it. I'm sure more will unfold in the next few days but its time for RC and a few others to concede this thing was overhyped and never had the prob potential that was purported. There's undoubtedly bad code out there but in terms of embeddeds, the GMT power outages, oil refining probs, Mideast readiness all our anonymous sources didn't prove to be very perceptive or astute. I'm chalking it up as a good learning experience and a great drama! That's the coolest new year I've had and ever will have. I'll always remember the big pre- rollover drum roll, all the forum disruptions and colorful personalities here. I'm a little more appreciative on what I've got, including plentyful heat sources and gasoline supplies! And I also recognise and appreciate the value and perils of this kind of CyberTribe.

Sincere wishes for a happy and productive New Year and New Millenium, all!

-- Downstreamer (downstream@bigfoot.com), January 01, 2000.

Great post as usual, Gordon.

My head is spinning. Is it a hangover or is it these Reuters articles?

Time will tell. ;-)

-- cgbg jr (cgbgjr@webtv.net), January 01, 2000.

Come on... he said/she said, the facts on the surface are in. Remember Mr. CEO, what was it 40/60% power loss best case scenario for 4-6 weeks??

Every friend of a friend story needs to be proved at this point, how do we know who is posting what on this forum. At this point, if people on this thread are not at least wondering why things went extremely well and that maybe, Y2K will be a non issue for most (BITR) than I would be very surprised.

-- LALA (LaLALAND@aol.com), January 01, 2000.

In talking to a neighbor who works for a large oil company and is in charge of an inhouse Y2K project ... he said in talking with his people about "what ifs" ... if the embedded chips, etc. caused problems with the wells and pipelines ... they said to him .... we will just turn BACK the clocks to 1992 or whatever ... we have the ability to control the clocks on everything. Maybe that explains what is happening. Hope so and hope that it continues to work.

-- Lee Barber (LeeeeeeB@webtv.net), January 01, 2000.

I'm not sure what to think, either. Obviously, the embedded system issue wasn't one. Testing indicated problems, but obviously the testing system was flawed. It just didn't matter. Unremediated systems are performing just fine.

We'll get a test of the software as folks come back to the office and fire stuff up. I'm sure there will be problems, but now I think we will be able to handle them. Baffling.

I'm thrilled, but baffled. We apparently spent billions for nothing, at least as far as embedded systems go.

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), January 01, 2000.

I think Lee may have hit on something here,

Didn't someone post something overnight to the effect that some middle east state had decided to turn their clocks back to 1995 as a stopgap...

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), January 01, 2000.

Wouldn't it be wonderfull if all these reports pan out?! I hope everyone of them does.

-- Michael Erskine (Osiris@urbanna.net), January 01, 2000.

Great post Gordon! Hope the good news is real and continues!

Question: Has anyone heard anything on the status of the Alaska pipeline? Jim Lord thought it was likely to go down. Any confirmation of its status would be sincerely appreciated! Thanks!

-- luann (flataufm@hutchtel.net), January 01, 2000.

"This would seem on the face of it to be impossible. Statistically impossible that all of these chips performed correctly or were successfully remediated. I'm going to reserve judgement for a while here. It's important to remember that the major futures markets are doing exactly that until Tuesday. I'm with them. I find it troubling that we had not ONE major flub somewhere. That's not probable or credible. "

Gordon,

Great post.

I have to believe that even John Koskinen, Bob Bennett, Dale Way, and many many others that are closer to this deal than us are amazed at this point.

Statistically it does seem rather impossible. But hey, I'll take it and be very very thankful.

-- the Virginian (1@1.com), January 01, 2000.

Andy,

One can't turn the clock back on embeddeds.

RC, and so many other TBers, thought embeddeds would cause big oil industry problems. That's not gonna be the case.

I don't mind admitting I was wrong. I was expecting third world rollover oil production probs. I was guessing Saddam would want the millenium spotlight. I thought the stock market would deliver a pre-year end dip.

Unless a lot more dire info comes out this weekend. Oil's headed south on Tuesday. There's too much stockpiled gasoline and distillate out there. In conjunction with this unseasonably warm weather, oil sector demand is gonna be nil in early Jan.

Humbled and Happy,

-- Downstreamer (downstream@bigfoot.com), January 01, 2000.

Andy,

One can't turn the clock back on embeddeds.

Agreed.

I'm talking about LSES, embedded systems, that was what the report was referring to, if I could dig it out.

Looks like it's heading South at this point in time. Watching and waiting.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), January 01, 2000.

Downstreamer,

Oil prices may head south on Tuesday but it won't be because the OIL companies are in the clear. You really really really don't have a clue as to even the slightest aspect of embedded systems potentials do you?

Did you really think it would ALL be over at 12:01 am??? or 1:00am?? or by the end of 1/2/2000?? What a foolish notion. None of the embeddeds folks I've talked with believed it would all be over so soon. The debate was when we'd see the real impact...and that is indeed a debate. It could be that in 10 days we'll have seen 3 or 4 refineries victimized by random incidents that shut down those refineries for prolonged periods. YOU SIR HAVE NO IDEA.. None of us know for sure and it is way too early for moronic statements such as the ones you've been making today.

-- RC (racambab@mailcity.com), January 01, 2000.