Giant Gulf oil producers exterminate Y2K bug ]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. OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia -- the world's biggest oil producer and exporter -- moved quickly after the turn of the century to reassure its customers that oil was flowing. State oil giant Saudi Aramco reported that production, export terminals, refineries and pipelines in the kingdom were running smoothly. Shipping sources said they had so far heard no reports of any disruptions in oil exports. ``Everything is working normal now and it was during the rollover,'' said an official with one of the region's biggest shipping agents. ``It has all been under control since yesterday early morning until now. There has been no stoppage.'' Concern had been growing in huge markets such as the United States that the Y2K bug could undermine crucial supplies from the strategic Gulf. U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson underscored worries when he said he would be speaking to the oil ministers of Venezuela, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Canada and the head of the International Energy Agency to discuss Y2K conditions. Saudi Arabia had said it was ready to replace any oil supplies that my be disrupted because of Y2K computer problems. PRODUCERS REPORT NO PROBLEMS But key Middle East producers faced no serious problems in their huge oil and gas fields, export terminals and refineries. Big OPEC players such as Iran, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Libya and Algeria escaped any Y2K disruptions to exports to huge markets in the West and Asia, shipping sources and officials said. Egypt said supplies from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean along its Suez Canal and SUMED pipeline suffered no disruption. In Ankara, Turkey said it had put back the date on the monitoring system on ,the Iraqi pipeline that delivers oil to the Meditanerrean to 1995 to circumvent the bug. Many questions had been raised in the countdown to the turn of the century amid the global Y2K hysteria. Would Iran's energy industry, for instance, escape the possible wrath of Y2K because the country's computer systems are older? ``The loading of tankers at Iran's ports is continuing on schedule and without interruption,'' the official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Mohammad Saadatvand, Oil Ministry representative at the state Y2K headquarters, as saying. Saadatvand said operations were also normal at refineries and other oil installations. Gulf states which belong to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries were especially sensitive to any damage to oil exports that could undermine the delicate balance of supply and demand in the world market. After all, 1999 was the year when OPEC returned to the world oil stage spotlight with a production cut deal that has doubled prices and given the cartel renewed prestige after years of quota violations. Even smaller, non-OPEC producers in the Gulf said they managed to exterminate the Y2K bug and safeguard oil exports that are their economic lifeblood. ``Everything is fine in production and the oil fields. There are no problems,'' Nabil al-Qawsi, an official at the oil ministry in Yemen, told Reuters.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), January 02, 2000

Answers

The Houston Police Department announced New Years Day that they had reset their dispatching computer system to 1995. And it rolled forward to 1996 at the rollover. They neglected to say that it still works, though. Apparently there are *some* systems that tolerate this method.

-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), January 02, 2000.

Andy,

Michael Cherry of the Century Corp who was part of the US Dept of Commerce NIST Report...had advised a day or two before rollover in fact he reportedly didn't just advised he urged companies in industries utilizing embedded systems ... to roll back their clocks in a last ditch bid to avoid having everyone default simultaneously.

I can't speak to the technical aspects regarding the prudence of that but I do understand that this in itself is risky but it may explain why there were so few problems if everyone who heard Cherry followed his advice and rolled back. It might buy them some time. How many did it? I don't know. Maybe no one, or maybe a substantial majority. We have no way of knowing but if they did rollback, I'm sure that they wouldn't want to tell anyone.

-- RC (racambab@mailcity.com), January 02, 2000.

RC

I've had two annonymous posts saying that this ***had*** been done, I don't know by whom.

Tht'a why I asked our "expert" Downstreamer yesterday if it could be done - you probably saw it yourself - he replied that it couldn't be done (referring to chips, duh) - I replied that what we were probably talking about were LSES's...

The Turkey article above is the first time I've seen this in print.

All I know is if I was in charge of production in some remote corner of the world I would certainly turn the clock back if it would safely buy me some time.

Anyway oil getting into your carbs is just the end result of what, a ten or twelve step chain...

Can paula Gordon, the IEE, NIST, TAVA and many others all be wrong?

I'm toughing this one out - lets wait and see what transpires.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), January 02, 2000.

Andy,

I'm no expert or techie and have never purported to be. My background is in refined products trading, marketing, and international.

You didn't ask me. I just stated that embedded chips can't be rolled back. You responded "AGREED". This article cites a pipeline monitoring system was rolled back. Sounds plausible to me.

-- Downstreamer (downstream@bigfoot.com), January 02, 2000.

OK DS I take that back. Still find it hard to believe all the Oil PR coming out on the wires. Its surreal.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), January 02, 2000.

Hi Andy:

Got a couple of replies to your anger at me. Take a look in:

Why nothing was ever going to happen with the embeds

and

is@the_ring.side), January 02, 2000.

Hi Andy:

Got a couple of replies to your anger at me. Take a look in:

Why nothing was ever going to happen with the embeds

and

Rollover and Oil -- The Falling chips drift by my Windows when embedded systems start to fail

-- Interested Spectator (is@the_ring.side), January 02, 2000.

The CIA and State Dept. also expected problems in various parts of the world. It is amazing to me that no problems have been reported. Why did our government expect utility failures if not because of embedded systems? I wonder if there were many instances of clocks being set back.

-- Dave (dannco@hotmail.com), January 02, 2000.