Microsoft outage disrupts global oil trading, delays Platts price data
A major Microsoft outage disrupted global oil trading on Thursday, forcing dealers to revert to phones and faxes amid volatile markets. The system failure also delayed commodity price data from Platts, impacting trading decisions. The outage, which began Thursday, affected over 20 Microsoft services, including Outlook email. Oil traders like Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial Securities lost email for an hour, while broker Ken Malloy could not send fuel price reports. Platts delayed publishing some natural gas and biofuel prices. Microsoft reported progress restoring services on Friday. The disruption highlighted risks of relying on a single tech provider, though some traders using alternative platforms like ICE Chat were less affected. The company warned some services might still experience errors.