But it is these same advances which today threaten the industries ability to supply consumers worldwide with the right kind of petroleum products, when and where needed, and in the volumes required. There are thousands of pieces of equipment between the oil producer and the oil consumer, with embedded computer chips, vulnerable to Y2K problems. Consider that a typical offshore platform, where the oil journey begins, may depend on between 50 to 100 embedded systems, and that each of these systems may contain as many as 10,000 microchips. The last but most important contact between the oil sector and most consumers is the gasoline pump. If the computers have not been reprogrammed to take Y2K into account, the pumps won't work and the gasoline won't flow.
International failures are likely.
Despite recent increased efforts, a number of countries have thus far done little to remedy critical systems. These failures could have a significant impact upon the United States, especially in areas that rely heavily upon cross-border operations. That is, oil storage facilities are costly to maintain and so have been minimized. Which means that a supply disruption anywhere, for whatever the reason, will have an impact everywhere. Prices soar where oil is available, leading to economic disruptions and to the prospect of civil disorder where it is not.