Invited to the Calvi 3D set after the presentation of the sobriety plan, the Minister for the Energy Transition returned for the first time to the critical situation of a few gas stations in France. While 15% of sites are affected by fuel shortages, Agnès Pannier-Runacher wanted to be reassuring:
It is a situation that is cyclical. We are in the process of asking the tankers to beef up and bring in additional supplies from Belgium and Rouen by ship. Let everyone fill up normally, there is no need to organize reservations.”
Two phenomena are at the origin of this temporary unavailability of fuel: the TotalEnergies discount that caused an avalanche of motorists at its sites and, more recently, a large strike movement at the oil giant’s refineries but also at those of the Esso group. For this reason, the Minister for the Energy Transition invited the various stakeholders to “quickly find a solution that allows the French who suffer from these problems to find healthy working conditions”.
A critical situation in Hauts-de-France and Grand-Est
At noon, the president of the French Union of Petroleum Industries (UFIP) Energies et Mobilités Oliver Gantois was the guest of Dej’Info to also discuss the situation of rupture that affects several gas stations throughout France. Not all regions are exposed to the same degree to these problems:
First it was Hauts-de-France, then Grand Est, which also had a particular situation, explains Olivier Gantois. Suddenly, the waters of the Rhine were not enough for the barges that supply fuel in part of eastern France to do so. Now the Rhine has returned to its normal level. So there are several factors why the situation should improve.”
Interregional transfers
This difference in treatment has led the players in the sector to adopt a specific strategy consisting of “moving certain supplies from one region to another to supply the regions most affected by these supply difficulties”. These inter-regional transfers are in addition to the broader measures of resorting to the importation of additional fuel to compensate for the drop in refinery production.
It took a few days for these import decisions to translate into products that reached all service stations. We are still in a phase where we do not yet have the benefit of these additional import decisions.
Like the minister, the president of the UFIP also promised an imminent improvement: “Some stations that are sold out are going to be replenished during the day. Some are going to take a little longer, I can’t tell you. Say which ones but in In any case, the situation will be much better in a few days.”
Source: BFM TV
