Will the French be able to refuel before the Easter weekend? If the supply situation of the gas stations has improved in recent days, the still degraded operation of certain French refineries due to the strike against the pension reform does not allow a return to normality at this time.
Nationwide, 7.3% of service stations no longer have at least one fuel, compared to 9% at the beginning of the week and 17% the previous week. But some areas are affected more than others.
If the disturbances are limited to the East, South-West and North-West departments with a rupture rate often below 5%, the situation is much more complicated in Île-de-France with a partial rupture rate close to 5%. 40% in Val-de-Marne and Hauts-de-Seine or in the Indre-et-Loire department where the rupture rate reaches 27%.
Suspension of requisitions in Gonfreville, resumption of activity in Port-Jérôme
Thursday’s suspension of requisitions at the Gonfreville-l’Orcher refinery, France’s largest, shouldn’t help. And for good reason, the site caters to the Île-de-France and Centre-Val de Loire regions.
With the suspension of requisitions, fuel shipments are completely interrupted. This “effectively leads to wider product gaps than currently exists,” admits Alexis Antonioli, general secretary of the CGT at the TotalÉnergies refinery in Gonfreville-l’Orcher.
However, service stations will be able to count on the Esso-ExxonMobil refinery in Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine (Seine-Maritime) where the strike was lifted on Thursday. Stopped since March 25, shipments will be able to leave this site that represents 20% of the refining capacity in France, according to France Bleu Normandie.
Source: BFM TV
