((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(Added ExxonMobil comments to paragraphs 3, 5 and 6)
Strikers on Friday prevented trucks delivering petroleum products, including gasoline, from leaving the ExxonMobil Chemical France refinery in Port-Jérôme-Gravenchon, in the north of France.
Some 200 workers are on strike, a member of the FNME-CGT union said, and the action will continue until management resumes negotiations over ExxonMobil Chemical France XOM.N’s plan to close part of the refinery.
“Due to the blockade surrounding the terminals, some trucks are unable to load products from the Gravenchon refinery terminal. However, pipeline and ship loadings are not affected,” said a spokesperson for ExxonMobil.
Last month, ExxonMobil Chemical France said it would shut down the steam cracker and close chemical production at Gravenchon this year, adding that the site has lost more than 500 million euros ($534.40 million) since 2018 and remains non-competitive.
The ExxonMobil spokesperson said that some of the chemical manufacturing units, including the steam cracker, were closed due to the strike.
“We regret that this may impact our ability to supply certain products,” the ExxonMobil spokesperson said, adding that the units that could be impacted make polyethylene, polypropylene and resins.
($1 = 0.9356 euros)