With respect to computing systems that support the internal operations of Shell-usa's business, Shell-usa has considered both the representation of calendar dates in company databases as well as the manipulation of dates in business applications used by the company. The representation of calendar dates within critical company databases comprises four decimal digits, which is adequate for representing dates beyond the year 2000. As for manipulation of calendar dates by Shell-usa's internal business applications, these are based on commercial software packages produced by prominent, third-party software vendors. We believe that in the unlikely event that such packages fail as a result of their manipulation of calendar dates, the relevant vendors are capable of producing corrected software in a timely manner. Although, as a matter of corporate policy, Shell-usa does not specifically warrant its compliance with so-called "Y2K standards" or otherwise assume any direct or indirect liability for Y2K-related damages, our study of its information and computing systems leads us to believe that it has little, if any, exposure to risks arising from the processing of calendar dates.