The Crisis of France’s Petrol Stations: Over 15% Face Issues

The French newspaper Le Figaro reported that 15% of petrol stations in France are suffering from supply or stock problems due to strikes at refineries.

This is due to the fact that oil refinery workers have joined the strikes against reforming the country’s pension system. The greatest difficulties are currently observed in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, where stations are still without fuel.

Cars queuing at petrol stations a few kilometers away, and the French authorities do not expect the situation in this sector to improve, as workers at the Total Energies oil refinery in the municipality of Dangy have announced an extension of the strike until March 31.

According to Le Figaro, the fuel situation is gradually deteriorating in the Île-de-France metropolitan area, with 17% of gas stations in Paris experiencing a partial or complete shortage of fuel.

According to the French service that monitors the situation at gas stations, there are now 650 gas stations in France without a single type of fuel, and more than 1,000 gas stations there is a “partial shortage of gasoline.”

Since the beginning of March, a new wave of strikes has swept through France, affecting a number of industries, especially energy. In most areas, oil refineries refused to go to work and thus protested against pension reform. French government spokesman Olivier Véran said last week that the French authorities had decided to forcibly re-employ striking refinery workers in order “not to disturb the life of the country.”

A reform to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 years and abolish some non-state pension systems to ensure the financial balance of the social system was introduced in January last year, and the proposed changes immediately provoked a lot of protests. On March 16, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Born announced the adoption of a bill to change the pension system, bypassing parliament and under the responsibility of the government. Representatives of trade unions and opposition political parties condemned the government’s actions and called for more strikes throughout the country. On March 28, the unions plan to hold new mass demonstrations in Paris and other cities of the country.

Source: TASS