Venezuelan oil giant sets up Y2K troubleshooting window

NEWS Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV), the Venezuelan state oil company, is aiming to take advantage of the 17-hour time lag that will occur after the dawn of the millennium in New Zealand. They intend to have information online in New Zealand so if anything happens to similar systems they have a 17-hour window to deal with the problem. However, the company believes that any problems that may occur will be minor and has contingency plans in place to protect itself against any possible hiccups. Over the past five years, the oil giant has spent around $180m in preparation for the date change. PDV is the third largest exporter of oil in the world, pumping over 2.5 million barrels of oil on a daily basis. They also have refineries in the Caribbean and the US.