FUEL PRICES: Petrol stations out of fuel were much more numerous on Monday than at the end of October, two days before the drop in rebates from the State and TotalEnergies
Soon the end of discounts. petrol stations out of fuel were much more numerous on Monday than at the end of October, particularly in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Ile-de-France, two days before the drop in state discounts and TotalEnergies, according to official data analyzed by AFP.
Nationally, nearly 21% of service stations were dry for at least one type of fuel, petrol or diesel, out of a sample of 9,900 stations that were serving it on September 20 before a long strike in French refineries. On the 26th of October, when this strike only affected two TotalEnergies sites, this figure was 14.5%.
Stacking at the pump
“This runaway is only due to the end of the discounts, with motorists who rushed to the pump, but also to the three-day weekend, with one day less supply last week”, explains Francis Pousse, president of service stations and new energies within the trade union Mobilians, which represents 5,800 traditional stations (excluding mass distribution).
On Wednesday, the discount of 30 cents per litre of fuel financed by the state since September 1st will drop to 10 cents. That of TotalEnergies will drop from 20 to 10 cents. The two discounts of 10 cents will last until December 31st. In 2023, the government is planning targeted aid for certain motorists “who are struggling to make ends meet”, according to Minister Gabriel Attal .
Some stations running out of fuel
Nearly 13% of French service stations were even completely out of fuel on Monday, against 9.8% at the end of October, according to data transmitted by the stations and downloaded at 9:45 a.m. on the prix-carburants.gouv.fr site. Regional disparities are strong. In 17 departments, more than 40% of the stations lacked either gasoline or diesel.
This is the case for most departments in the Paris region, such as Seine-Saint-Denis (49.5% of stations affected), Val d’Oise (46%), Yvelines (45%) and Paris ( 43.6%). In Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, 58% of Puy-de-Dôme stations lacked at least one type of fuel, and 46% in the Rhône, where the Feyzin refinery (TotalEnergies), the last on strike, did not suspend the movement only on November 8th. The government, for its part, has not communicated figures on fuel shortages since the 21st of October, after media analyzes showed an underestimation of the shortage.
