CAN ANYONE SAY IF THE OIL COMPANIES ARE EVEN WORKING ON THEIR REFINERIES TO CHECK OUT THEIR IMBEDDED SYSTEMS? I E-MAILED 3 OF THE LARGE COMPANIES ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND RECEIVED NO RESPONSE.

-- Sam Horowitz (samiamh@aol.com), February 02, 1999

Answers

The January 20 testimony of Lawrence Gershwin, a senior intelligence officer, before a subcommittee of the U.S.House of Representatives reveals:

"Regarding world trade and oil: some of our most important trading partners have been documentedby, among others, the Gartner Group, as behind the US in fixing their Y2K problems (China and Japan, for example). Significant oil exporters to the United States and the global market include a number of countriesVenezuela, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Nigeria, Angola, and Gabonthat are lagging in their Y2K remediation efforts. Oil production is largely in the hands of multi-national corporations in the oil-producing countries, but this sector is highly intensive in the use of information technology and complex systems using embedded processors, and is highly dependent on ports, ocean shipping, and domestic infrastructures."

"The industry is fraught with potential Y2K problems. Embedded microprocessors are found throughout in the oil industry in drilling, pumping, transportation, processing, and refining operations. A typical offshore platform or onshore gas plant reportedly uses 50-100 embedded systems, each containing up to 10,000 individual microchips. While the industry has been actively involved in remediation, planning for remediation of a single offshore platform can reportedly involve up to 60 different vendors. We are concerned about the shipping of oil products, because ocean shipping and foreign ports have both been flagged as among the least prepared sectors."

Read a lot more about the OIL connections: OIL

-- Mr_Kennedy (y2kPCfixes@motivatedseller.com), February 02, 1999.

And also, the following relevant information was taken from GAO's (Goverment Accounting Office) Joel Willemssen's Jan 20, 99 statement:

Related to the power sector are the oil and gas industries. An August 1998 survey of these industries by the Presidents Council on Year 2000 Conversions oil and gas working group, in conjunction with the American Petroleum Institute, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, the American Gas Association, and other industry groups found that, for their business systems and associated software, (1) 45 percent of respondents were in the planning, inventory, or assessment phases, (2) 36 percent were in the remediation phase, and (3) 19 percent were in the validation phase. In regard to embedded systems, (1) 60 percent of respondents were in the planning, inventory, or assessment phases, (2) 26 percent were in the remediation phase, and (3) 14 percent were in the validation phase.

Here's the link to the full Jan 20, 1999 report:

Statement By
Joel Willemssen
Director, Civil Agengies Information Systems
Accounting And Information Management Division
U.S. General Accounting Office
Before The Subcommittee On Government Management,
Information, And Tehcnology Of The
Committee On Government Reform And Oversight
U.S. House Of Representatives
January 20, 1999

-- Arnie Rimmer (arnie_rimmer@usa.net), February 02, 1999.

Based on this August 1998 data, the best that be said is "We don't know whether there is an industry-wide crisis there, or only a crisis in a few specific companies.

Clearly, though, not all will be compliant if you project the earlier numbers, but until a real trend is known (based new data counting "company testing complete" and counts of "company inventory complete") "we don't know" is the only valid answer.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), February 02, 1999.

The inability to get fuel pumped, refined and distributed could easily be a major cause of the recession, depression or whatever. I read a month or so ago that the imbedded chips in refineries are difficult to test without shutting down the whole thing and it would be cheaper to build a new refinery than to test the existing systems. The kicker is that it takes 5 years to design and build a new one and the problem was not recognized 5 years ago. So how many oil companies will have new compliant refineries ready to go on line within the next year? Few if any are likely. It is not likely that all of the links in the chain (oil well, pipelines, refineries, distribution systems and even the corner gas station) will be fixed. All of the old style stations were shut down by December 1998 thanks to EPA so that these tanks would not leak into the groundwater. So most remaining stations are highly computerized and can not even be pumped if a generator is attached if they are not remmediated. The only way to get around the system is to shove a hoze down the fill pipe and pump the fuel out with a portable pump. This is not a practical solution and this gas would be gone in a week or less. There are no easy answers. Murphy's law (everything that can go wrong will) and the law of unintended consequences appear to be in full force here. I would not be buying a new car this year.

-- Steve (sfennel@nettally.com), February 02, 1999.

This subject was covered earlier...scroll way down...a lot of people contributed some really good information. I think the title was something THEM vs. US. L.

-- Louisa (overtime@inreach.com), February 02, 1999.

Klinton has the refinery problem solved.

Here is the link: http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a36b77ac61a1f.htm

I don't think we will have a problem with our refineris here, because they will be non-existant in this country if the king has his way.

Or we will need a second form of income to by fuel.

A snipet:

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration's $1.77 trillion budget proposal unveiled Monday would sock the oil and gas industry with billions of dollars worth of new or previously expired taxes at a time when producers are suffering through the worst slump since the Oil Bust.

-- Mike (no-oil@well.com), February 02, 1999.