Fuels: One in 10 Service Stations Encounters a Supply Problem in France

SHORTAGE: While the government assures that there is no risk of shortage, one station in 10 is currently experiencing a fuel supply disruption

Of the 9,500 stations french, 1 in 10 are out of stock on at least one of the main ones fuels, according to public data. This count considers a station having declared a break to be “out of stock” gasoline or diesel on the government site prix-fuels.gouv.fr at at least one time of a given day. A breakup can last a few hours or several days.

The number of stations completely or partially out of stock has increased sharply since the beginning of March, after the first Israeli-American strikes on Iran which led to the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global oil supplies.

“No risk of supply disruption” according to the government

The number of stations with total or partial outages increased from 130 on average in January and February to more than 700 at the end of last week. Nearly 3% of stations currently do not sell diesel or gasoline.

These figures match those of the government: according to the Minister for Energy and government spokesperson, Maud Bregeon, “less than 10%” of service stations are “total or partial” out of stock.

These are most often stations of the TotalEnergies group, which has implemented a ceiling price, “which generates an influx”, specified the minister, assuring Wednesday on TF1 that there was “no risk of supply disruption” in France.

The number of stations in difficulty exceeded 1,000 this weekend and Monday. But it usually increases on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays due to a drop in truck supply on weekends.

The number of stations in difficulty remains at this stage still significantly below the more than 4,500 stations completely or partially out of stock for several days in October 2022, when long strikes in refineries caused a fuel shortage in France.