Strikes and unplanned maintenance have disrupted more than 60 percent of France’s refining capacity, or 740,000 barrels per day, forcing the country to import more fuel at a time when uncertainty over global supplies has increased costs.
A labor strike organized by members of the General Labor Confederation of Total Energy, mainly due to wages, has disrupted operations at two refineries and two storage facilities, and two ExxonMobil refineries have faced similar problems since September 20.
A spokesman for the General Labor Confederation, Thierry Deverson, told Reuters that nothing had changed at the four Total Energy sites since last Wednesday.
Ferrand emphasized that France has an adequate supply of fuel in general.
“There are temporary problems with the distribution,” he told BFM television and RMC radio.
He said that 90 percent of gas stations in the Paris region had no problems, although 15 percent of stations in France in general had these “temporary difficulties”.
The strike is part of broader labor movements across France demanding higher wages and pensions, as purchasing power is declining and inflation is rising across Europe. This led to strikes at nuclear reactors which reduced the supply of electricity.
The French government said this week that France was turning to its strategic fuel reserves to refuel stations amid strikes at refineries and warehouses that have limited production and prevented deliveries.
The French Confederation of Petroleum Industries said the insufficient fuel injection was due to logistical issues rather than a lack of supplies. He added that the withdrawal from the stockpile has never affected the national level of reserves.
“Some regions have been given flexibility to get (supplies) with other regions that have a surplus to balance,” the union’s spokesman said of the drawdown.
In the worst-affected Hauts-de-France region, near the border with Belgium, authorities banned the sale of fuel and diesel in any portable containers.
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