‘I was afraid of getting stuck’: How precautionary shopping is causing fuel shortages

“I did a first fill up a fortnight ago and a supplement on Saturday, I was afraid of finding myself stuck to go to work“Says William, a motorist from the Alpes-Maritimes. Hervé, a teacher from Nantes, is even pleased to have “had a hollow noseon Saturday, when he filled up with gas. Like them, they are hundreds – if not more – to go preventively to service stations for fear of a fuel shortage.

According to data from Figure Data , 14.4% of service stations in the country did not have either gasoline (SP 98, SP 95, E10) or diesel on Wednesday. In Loire-Atlantique, now the most affected territory, 55.2% of the pumps declared a rupture there on Wednesday, and 43.6% were even already completely dry. In all, 40 departments had at least 10% service stations on Wednesday.in trouble“, drawing a wide diagonal from the North-West to the South-East of France. But where do these shortages really come from and are they accentuated by the fear of the French?

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Few disturbances in deposits

For Francis Pousse, president of the service station branch of the Mobilians union, the answer is clear: “The shortages are caused by the French who rush to the stations, but I don’t blame them“. However, he recognizes that the blockades of refineries by strikers “handicap» fuel transfers, but that they are not the cause of shortages.

Indeed, when the fuels leave the refineries, they are stored for several weeks in the depots, which are practically not at a standstill, and then reach the service stations. “From the eight French refineries, we supply around 200 depots in France, which themselves supply individuals and the 11,000 service stations», explains Olivier Gantois, president of Ufip Energies and Mobilities. Regarding the current situation,the refineries are almost all blocked, on the other hand out of the 200 deposits, only between 5 and 7 are disturbed“, he adds, so nothing to disrupt the supply of service stations.

Olivier Gantois assures him once again, “what leads to shortages is not the blockages but the precautionary purchases of motorists“. Already, last October, the rush of the French in the service stations had aggravated the fuel crisis. “At that time, stocks were particularly low. Demand was high, especially with government and distributor rebates. This is not comparable with the situation today, where stocks are almost at their maximum.“, reassures the specialist. He therefore recommends refueling only when motorists need it, so that the French do not find themselves at a standstill.