Venezuela insists supplies won't be interrupted by Y2K problem

Venezuela, the world's third largest oil exporter and one of the main suppliers of oil to the United States, insists supplies won't be interrupted by the Year 2000 computer bug. But officials say isolated problems with some sectors such as electricity are likely to crop up, and some fear that could spill over to the South American nation's massive oil industry.
The U.S. State Department said it was concerned about the so-called Y2K problem in numerous countries including Venezuela, which provides about 17 % of U.S. oil imports and competes with Saudi Arabia and Mexico as the No. 1 exporter of oil to the United States. The Y2K bug stems from computers that will not function properly starting New Year's Day because they won't be able to distinguish 2000 from 1900.
Gustavo Mendez, head of a presidential commission handling the Y2K problem, acknowledged Venezuela had a late start addressing the issue because of a change in administrations in February. But he said it has caught up. "Venezuela guarantees the permanent delivery of oil, absolutely," Mendez told. The State Department report, he added, was probably based on outdated information.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez named the presidential commission in April, and 15 full-time experts were immediately assigned to a nation-wide team. Previously, the team was made up of people who were not dedicated to the problem full-time since they had other duties. Venezuela has also rushed in experts from the United States to help out. As a whole the country of 23 mm people has spent between $ 600 and $ 800 mm to fix the Y2K problem.
Mendez said critical systems at Venezuela's PDVSA, the world's third largest oil company, are 100 % surveyed, corrected and tested. That means the industry should have no problems come Jan. 1, 2000.
An oil industry analyst largely agreed, saying he expects no major disruption of supplies. However, he added that there could be some minor problems because of failures of outside companies and services that Petroleos de Venezuela depends on.
Even though most Venezuelan electricity companies say they are ready to go, some may have trouble, Mendez said. They are located on the popular tourist island of Margarita and in eastern Bolivar state, home to rain forests, Indian tribes, rich gold deposits and the massive Guri hydroelectric dam, which supplies 70 % of Venezuela's electricity. Glitches may also occur in central Carabobo and Aragua states, the heart of the industrial belt of Latin America's fourth largest economy.