This is the double penalty for motorists in Île-de-France, Centre-Val de Loire and eastern Pays de la Loire to a lesser extent. As in the south-east and west of the country, fuel shortages were becoming less common at service stations in the various departments of Ile-de-France, under the effect of the resumption of deliveries of unleaded petrol by pipeline from the Normandy refinery from Gronfreville. -l’Orcher for fuel depots in the Paris region.
Except that tankers don’t deliver fuel to gas stations on Sundays. And that this Sunday is not just any Sunday since it is Easter and therefore a holiday Monday followed, that is, a second consecutive day without fuel delivery. All while French roads were particularly busy on Monday afternoon, especially in Normandy and Picardy towards the capital.
In other words, as the demand increased during these three days while the offer was reduced, the fuel shortage was more numerous at the beginning of the week.
A return to normality this week?
While last Friday only 5% of French service stations lacked at least one fuel, the percentage already rose to 7.5% on Sunday and was close to 10% on Monday.
The Ile-de-France departments are still among the most affected, however, with significant disparities. In Seine-Saint-Denis, Seine-et-Marne or even in the Val d’Oise, less than a quarter of the stations are partially out of fuel. But this ratio is doubled for other departments in the region such as Yvelines, Paris, Hauts-de-Seine or even Val-de-Marne, which continues to be the territory most exposed to shortages on a national scale.
The difficulties have also spread to the south-western departments of Île-de-France in recent days. This is particularly the case in Indre-et-Loire but also in Indre or Loir-et-Cher, where at least one station in three does not offer diesel or unleaded.
However, the positive evolution of the situation in the departments that suffered this sudden increase in ruptures very early, such as Bouches-du-Rhône or Loire-Atlantique, allows us to be optimistic for the Paris region, Center-Val Loire and eastern La half of Pays de la Loire. Invited to Europe 1 on Friday, the president of the French Union of Petroleum Industries (UFIP Energies Mobilités), Olivier Gantois, was already anticipating a deterioration of the situation over the weekend and then a return to normality during the following week.
This gradual return to normality is also favored by the social movement that is losing steam in the refineries. On Friday the strike at the TotalEnergies refinery in Donges (Loire-Atlantique) was suspended and the blockades of the La Mède biorefinery near Marseille and the oil terminals of the Grand Maritime Port of Marseille-Fos were lifted. This Tuesday, it was at the TotalEnergies refinery in Gonfreville-l’Orcher (Seine-Maritime) where the strike against the pension reform was suspended. On the other hand, the inter-union call for a 12th day of strikes and demonstrations this Thursday, on the eve of the Constitutional Council’s decision on the text, could once again generate slight disturbances at downstream service stations.
Source: BFM TV
