The plan, to go for approval before the Paris-based group's board ofgovernors on December 10, would kick-in if computer failures feared at thedawn of the new century cut deeply into industrialised countries' normal oilsupply.

"In the documents setting up, the IEA the director is given right to applycrisis mechanisms when there is turmoil in the oil markets," said IEAspokesman Scott Sullivan.

Mechanisms available to the IEA for dealing with major supply crunchesinclude allocating oil reserves and restraining demand, for example withbrief oil rationing, he added.

Y2K would have to cause massive problems to trigger the plan, if the IEAuses its normal definition of a crisis as when seven per cent or more ofworld oil supply is threatened.

Industrialised OECD countries consume around 45 million barrels per day(bpd) of oil, so, around three million bpd would have to be cut to reachthat watershed. Sullivan declined to say how much oil the IEA plan wouldallow for release and added that the likelihood of supply chaos as a resultof Y2K was low.

"We plan a response if there are major problems but we do not foresee thathappening," he said. "The most likely outcome is a few small problems hereand there." This echoed a Monday declaration by Opec powers Saudi Arabia andVenezuela as well as non-Opec Mexico that Y2K was unlikely to affect worldoil supply and that they would respond jointly to any possible glitch.

"If any problem associated with Y2K does occur in the coming months, whichis highly improbable, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Venezuela, in coordinationwith other oil producing countries, would respond in the appropriate way,"they said.

IEA members have to hold strategic stocks worth around 90 days of theircombined import requirements of around 27 million barrels per day, givingthem some 2.4 billion barrels in reserve.

Tight oil markets raise Y2K stakes
Yet oil stocks in industrialised countries have been depleted by deep supplycurbs from leading producers that fired world benchmark Brent crude to nineyear highs above $25 a barrel just last week.

Major suppliers to the huge US oil market such as Nigeria are consideredparticularly likely to suffer Y2K disruption. Another big US supplier, Iraq,has decided to wait and address any Y2K breakdowns after the event.

Tankers and terminals are seen as most vulnerable to Y2K problems and manyoil companies have suspended oil loadings around the turn of the year.

Consumers' winter supply nerves have deepened as Iraq suspended its 2.4million bpd of exports until at least early December in a spat over itsoil-for-food deal with the United Nations.

The IEA released oil during the Gulf crisis nine years ago when it addedaround 15 million barrels to world flows as crude prices briefly spikedabove $40 a barrel.

The new IEA plan was designed solely against Y2K and would not be affectedby stoppages to Iraqi supply, Sullivan said.

Last week the US government said it was prepared to sell crude oilfrom its enormous Strategic Petroleum Reserve if Y2K problems disruptedsupply.