Fuel shipments still blocked at refineries in France due to strike, except in Normandy

The situation is changing in refineries. If all TotalEnergies sites were still on strike on Thursday March 9, a spokeswoman for the Esso-ExxonMobil group announced on Friday afternoon March 10 “the end of the conflict and the resumption of all expeditions yesterday (Wednesday) from the Port-Jérôme-Gravenchon refinery. In this Normandy refinery, “there were no more strikers last night at 10 p.m.”for his part confirmed Eric Sellini, elected national of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) of Chemistry, a union which called for a renewable strike.

On the other hand, the “Strike has been renewed at the Esso refinery in Fos-sur-Mer”with 70% of strikers, specified the union official, just like on the Lavéra site of the Petroineos group, a subsidiary of the British Ineos and PetroChina, where “shipping no longer works”.

In Donges, strikers from the TotalEnergies site also announced the continuation of their movement on Friday, according to CGT delegate Fabien Privé Saint-Lalanne, who told the press: “The strike was collectively recorded today in a general meeting until at least Thursday March 16 at 9 p.m. and under the same conditions. »

“The massive mobilizations in all private and public sectors receive the constant support of the population, yet the government remains silent in the face of the expression of this powerful social movement. This lack of response constitutes a serious democratic problem and will inevitably lead to an explosive social situation for which the President of the Republic will bear full responsibility.he continued.

Fuel shipments are also still blocked in TotalEnergies establishments in La Mède, Feyzin and Flandres. On the other hand, these refineries continue to produce fuel – except in Donges, which has been shut down for technical reasons. The production must until further notice be stored on site, for lack of being able to leave.

In the immediate future, there is therefore no shortage at the pump, the impact being limited on the 10,000 service stations in France which continue to obtain supplies from the 200 fuel depots spread over the territory. It will take several days of blockage, if not weeks, before on-site reserves are full and require the actual shutdown of production for safety reasons.

At the Feyzin refinery, a hardening of the strike by stopping production had been mentioned, but, for the moment, “the situation is unchanged”affirmed Mr. Sellini, who specified that “management is trying to avoid a complete shutdown”.

“Everything will depend on whether or not the strike continues”

About 6% of service stations ran out of gasoline or diesel on Wednesday, according to public data analyzed by Agence France-Presse. The oil sector calls into question the concern of motorists who would multiply their precautionary fill-ups because of the strikes. “As of today, there is plenty of fuel on national territory” And “service stations continue to be delivered normally”assured Wednesday Francis Pousse, president of the professional union Mobilians, which represents 5,800 stations.

If a deposit is blocked, “we have enough agility to get fuel elsewhere, even if it takes longer”. But for the next few days, “everything will depend on whether the strike continues or not, whether it intensifies or not”he observed elsewhere.

The west of France is more affected than the national average, with around a quarter of the stations of Sarthe, Indre-et-Loire and Calvados lacking petrol or diesel. This analysis is based on station feedback available on the prix-carburants.gouv.fr website. Stock-outs remain, in any case, far from the more than 40% of stations running out of fuel observed during the peak of the refinery strike at TotalEnergies and Esso-ExxonMobil in October, with shortages which had been even more serious in some regions.

Regarding gas, the four French LNG terminals which receive imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are shut down, as well as thirteen out of fourteen storage sites.