PENSION REFORM: Blocking fuel shipments does not create a shortage at gas stations, but an extension could lead to it
No shipment of fuels leaving French refineries will take place on Tuesday. On the occasion of the national mobilization against the pension reform, they were all blocked, told AFP the CGT-Chimie and TotalEnergies, without creating a shortage in service stations. Still, an extension could lead to it. .
According to Eric Sellini, nationally elected representative of the CGT-Chimie, the refineries of TotalEnergies, Esso-ExxonMobil and Petroineos are affected by this social movement. “The strike started everywhere, (…) with very variable proportions of strikers depending on the site, but with shipments blocked at the exit of all the refineries this morning”, declared Eric Sellini. “There are no more shipments of products from French refineries,” he insisted, referring to feedback from the field.
TotalEnergies reassures
The management of TotalEnergies had indicated on Monday that there was at this stage “no shortage of fuel ” in its stations, adding that “stocks in depots and service stations are at a high level”. It also ensured that its teams were mobilized to meet a demand that could be more sustained than usual, with additional logistical resources if necessary.
In addition to the depots located in refineries, France has 200 depots which makes it possible to supply the networks of all fuel distribution brands, according to Ufip, a spokesperson for oil companies.
100% of staff on strike at Madryck
Regarding TotalEnergies, the Normandy refinery, the largest in France, had 75% of strikers among the morning operators, the La Mède biorefinery (Bouches-du-Rhône) 90% while at Donges (Loire-Atlantique) voted to strike for a week, again according to Eric Sellini.
The Esso-ExxonMobil refinery in Gravenchon (Seine-Maritime) had only 40% strikers but this was enough to block fuel shipments, he added. At the TotalEnergies depot in Madryck, near Dunkirk, “100% of the posted staff is on strike”, said FO, shipments being “totally blocked”. The strike should continue “until noon tomorrow logically”, he added.
