France’s labour strike creates shortages at 10% of petrol stations

LONDON (ICIS)–A labour strike at three of France’s eight oil refineries and strike-related transport disruptions have created shortages at approximately 10% of the nation’s nearly 12,000 service stations, a French oil industry group said on Monday.

A spokesperson at the Union Francaise des Industries Petrolieres (UFIP) said on Monday: “We have problems with petrol stations in Normandy, Brittany, mainly in the north of France. We had transportation problems on Sunday; today it seems okay, but in some very localised regions we have more problems than elsewhere.”

Some drivers in Paris are anxious and are buying more gasoline than necessary, the spokesperson added.

The French oil industry body said around 90% of petrol stations in the country were being supplied normally.

“Since the beginning of the industrial action, members of the UFIP have devoted all their efforts to adapt to this situation, to run their industrial tools in the best conditions of safety and organize the supply of service stations accordingly,” UFIP said on Saturday 21 May.

According to UFIP, the strike action at oil refineries is limited to the Gonfreville refinery in Normandy, the Donges refinery, and the Feyzin refinery near Lyon (see map below) – all owned by French oil major Total.

The three refineries have a combined oil processing capacity of 575,000 bbl/day.

Production at Total’s Grandpuits oil refinery in the Paris region has been reduced because of a blockade outside the refinery, the UFIP spokesperson added.

Total did not respond to a request for comment.

Oil workers at the three Total refineries voted on Friday to go on strike after French trade union the Confederation Generale du Travail (CGT) called for a vote on industrial action.

The industrial action – which includes French transportation workers – is aimed at putting pressure on the French government to retreat on labour reforms that unions consider unfavourable to workers.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Sunday said France’s strategic petroleum reserves were sufficient to meet any shortages arising from the strike action.

UFIP is a French oil industry group that brings together companies engaged in activity in one of the three major sectors of the oil industry: exploration and production of oil and natural gas, refining and distribution.

France’s eight oil refineries are owned by Total, ExxonMobil and INEOS.