Iran says two refineries vulnerable to Y2K problem

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Iran says two refineries vulnerable to Y2K problem

By Jonathan Lyons

TEHRAN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Iran's two newest refineries face possible disruption from the millennium computer bug, largely for lack of key information from U.S. and other vendors, the head of the country's Y2K compliance programme said.

Mohammad Sepehri-Rad, secretary of the High Council of Informatics, said Iran's new units, at Bandar Abbas and Arak, faced complications preparing for the changeover to 2000, when computer systems might have trouble processing the new date.

"None of our refineries, except two, has any problem (because) they have no date-related embedded systems," Sepehri-Rad told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

"There are only two such refineries, one in Arak and one in Bandar Abbas."

He said the Bandar Abbas unit, on the Strait of Hormuz, was still under the supervision of the original contractor.

The refinery was built by Snamprogetti -- a unit of Italian energy group ENI -- and Chiyoda Corp <6366.T> of Japan and reached full production capacity of 232,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March 1998.

The 150,000 bpd Arak refinery, 260 km (160 miles) southwest of Tehran, which became fully operational in 1994, was recently handed over to Iranian control.

OTHERS REFINERIES TOO OLD FOR Y2K PROBLEM

Iran's other refineries were too old to face much of a Y2K problem, Sepehri-Rad said.

"In Bandar Abbas they have set back the calendar to 1997, and it has been working. They are not sure whether some problem will occur or not when the day comes. They are hoping that with the false date everything will go well.

"In Arak, they are doing their best to solve the problem before the end of 1999."

Sepehri-Rad said the Arak refinery included a significant amount of U.S. technology and equipment.

So far, the vendors had not provided sufficient information on Y2K compliance, as requested by the Iranian government and its agencies.

"I have a long list of letters from the Arak refinery to different vendors, but without any response," he said, without identifying the companies involved.

The Arak refinery was built under a contract won by a consortium comprising JGC Corp of Japan <1963.T> and Tecnologie Progetti Lavori SpA (TPL), an Italian subsidiary of France's Technip SA .

The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Iran in the wake of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran by militant students.

Cooperation on Y2K is also hampered by a U.S. embargo that blocks direct sales of technology and many other goods and services to the Islamic Republic.

The aftermath of the Islamic revolution, in particular the embassy takeover, ruptured a close political and trade relationship, which saw U.S. technology widely deployed throughout Iran.

The result is a large installed base of U.S. technology that is difficult to service and upgrade.

====================================== End

Oh my!! Maybe there is a valid reason that crude oil is over $26 a barrel today.

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), November 18, 1999

Answers

Nice to know we're already being set up as the bad guys.

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), November 18, 1999.

Really. "...Sepehri-Rad said the Arak refinery included a significant amount of U.S. technology and equipment. . . . So far, the vendors had not provided sufficient information on Y2K compliance, as requested by the Iranian government and its agencies. . . ." Looks like The Great Satan is gonna be blamed for THIS one, too...

-- I'm Here, I'm There (I'm Everywhere@so.beware), November 18, 1999.

Iran's two newest refineries face possible disruption from the millennium computer bug, largely for lack of key information from U.S. and other vendors, the head of the country's Y2K compliance programme said.

What part of "possible disruption" do the pollies not understand?

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), November 18, 1999.


Iran's got more probs than their 2 new refineries. Unlike the rest of the Mideast, they have smaller, more complex production fields with backpressure problems and not enough funds for y2k remediation, reservoir optimization, new field development or anything else.

They came out with public pleas for y2k help in the first quarter of this year so how much do you think they've accomplished since? Now they're in the cover their ass and blame the US mode.

Even after all this TB2000 reading I still don't know about major oil company operations like in the US and Saudi Arabia, but at least I know they've given it the effort. But how about these archaic nationalized gov owned and gov run oil operations like Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lybia and Algeria? This Iran article is probably a good indication....

-- Downstreamer (downstream@bigfoot.com), November 18, 1999.


A link for this article:

http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a1215LBY248reulb- 19991118&qt=refineries&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), November 18, 1999.



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