Review: August 12, 1999 - Adding fuel to the fire of Y2K

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

Petroleum companies are busy assuring the public that
Y2K will be a "non-problem" for them, but the
Paris-based International Energy Commission disagrees,
saying there could be disruptions in global oil markets.

The IEC (www.iea.org) report cites a number of critical
millennium bug threats to fuel supplies, but says price
fluctuations are difficult to predict due to decreased
demand caused by possible Y2K failures in industry.

. . .

However, they do state the enormity of Y2K issues
facing the oil industry, which could quickly negate today's
surplus production. For example, a single offshore
platform can contain 10,000 embedded controllers
microchips used to control pressure, temperature and
flow all of which need checking and half of which are
critical to its operation.

. . .

Oil from these platforms is transported by tanker or
undersea pipes to shore-based terminals, then on to a
refinery. All of these also make extensive use of
embedded controllers, some of which will have a date
problem.

"Companies are likely to operate myriad date-sensitive
systems," the report says. "They are found throughout the
industry and in all sectors, including drilling platforms,
production platforms, pipelines and process plants. In the
case of process plants and no doubt elsewhere, the
devices containing embedded chips are interconnected,
making the problem even more complex and increasing
the possibility of Y2K failure."

AFR

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), September 10, 2000

Answers

Yup, just what we are seeing!

-- (perry@ofuzzy1.com), September 10, 2000.

I didn't see a date on this story. It sounds just like the stuff we were all reading a year ago. I doubt this is current.

-- Wellesley (wellesley@freeport.com), September 10, 2000.

Yes, did you note the reference to the Senate Committe's warnings about foreign suppliers? That's right out of Fall of last year. That committee has been out of existence for a long time now.

-- Chance (fruitloos@Hotmail.com), September 10, 2000.

The date is at the top of the story. August of 1999. Yes it was from a year ago.

-- slza (slzattas@erols.com), September 10, 2000.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ