Another day of frenzy in sight at the pump, especially in Hauts-de-France and Ile-de-France. The strike for wages at TotalEnergies, which has been going on for ten days, continues to block several refineries in the country. Added to this is the fact that the stations of the TotalEnergies brand, which applies a discount of 20 cents at the pump in addition to the State rebate, are victims of their success and are encountering supply difficulties. At the end of the chain, 15% of resorts-service are paralyzed according to the government. A proportion which rises to 30% in Hauts-de-France.
In this context, the French government on Friday increased pressure on TotalEnergies, which manages nearly a third of French stations, to end the social conflict in refineries. ” I call on the companies concerned, which for the most part still have good results, to also consider requests for salary increases “said Olivia Grégoire, Minister Delegate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, on Franceinfo. ” We expect companies (…) to make efforts towards employees “, she said, without citing the oil company that carried out $10.6 billion in first-half profit.
For his part, the government spokesman, Olivier Véran, also made a request to TotalEnergies on BFMTV, indicating that the government was ” extremely attentive to ensuring that this social movement finds a solution as quickly as possible “, while the blockages of the strikers lead to a drop in fuel deliveries, the service stations are therefore more often out of stocks of gasoline or diesel.
Better in ” two, three days a priori »
The day before, the Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, had hinted that the situation should improve in ” two, three days a priori “. ” We are in the process of strengthening oil supplies from Belgium and from Rouen, by boat (…). In addition, we have indeed freed up some strategic stocks to more quickly support oil tankers “, she explained on BFMTV.
” We are doing everything so that in the coming days this situation can be resolved. and the government is in conjunction with Total to try to facilitate social dialogue “, added for his part the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, Friday morning on LCI. Tanker trucks will be exceptionally authorized to circulate on Sunday due to the ” fairly localized but significant difficulties “, also announced the minister, who must bring together during the day the federations of carriers” to see locally where we can improve the supply “.
If the supply difficulties are felt throughout France, in particular in the TotalEnergies stations for a few days, the shortages are particularly glaring in the Nord and the Pas-de-Calais with certain cities like Arras or Béthune, very affected. In order to calm the situation, the government has already activated the State’s strategic stocks on an ad hoc basis, in order to resupply service stations in difficulty. The Nord prefecture has also announced the establishment of priority access to fuel for the benefit of medical transport and health professionals.
Refinery Strike
At the French oil company, in addition to its Normandy refinery, the strikers were still massively mobilized on Friday at the Flanders fuel depot, near Dunkirk (North), at the “bio-refinery” in La Mède (Bouches-du-Rhône) and at the Grandpuits fuel depot (Seine-et-Marne) in particular, in order to limit the outflow of petroleum products as much as possible according to the CGT.
The mobilization was much lower – 10 to 30% strikers – at the Feyzin refinery (Rhône), but concentrated on the strategic shipping department, where the CGT claimed ” between 80 and 100% strikers “, told AFP Pedro Afonso, elected CGT of this refinery.
The strike does not only affect TotalEnergies refineries. The two French refineries of the American competitor Esso-ExxonMobil, in Seine-Maritime and in the Bouches-du-Rhône, are also stopped. In both cases at the call of the CGT, in order to obtain a salary increase.
To this social movement that disrupts the supply of service stations, Added to this is the fact that the stations of the TotalEnergies brand, which apply a discount of 20 centimes at the pump, in addition to the State rebate, are victims of their success and are encountering supply difficulties. TotalEnergies refuses to communicate the number of dry stations, but its online map shows that most of its 3,500 points of sale lack one or more fuels.
(With AFP)