It’s time for fuel rationing in Corsica. The two prefects of the island have limited, this Thursday evening, their sale to 20 liters of gasoline or 30 liters of diesel per day and per vehicle. And for a week. The challenge: to avoid a shortage at all costs, while the island’s oil depots were paralyzed at the start of the week.
On Monday, the two oil depots of Ajaccio (Corse-du-Sud) and Lucciana (Haute-Corse) were blocked by farmers. They dropped off tractors and trailers in front of warehouse entrances to protest against soaring fuel prices since the start of the war in Ukraine. Non-road diesel (GNR), used by tractors and other agricultural machinery, reached 1.80 euros per liter, or 110% increase in one year.
Protest movements by farmers, but also truck and taxi drivers, have emerged throughout France in recent days. In particular, they are calling for a fuel price ceiling established by the State.
Return to normal “at the end of the week”
If the blocking of Corsican farmers was lifted on Tuesday, “Out of respect for the bereaved family ofYvan Colonna», the fuel stocks of two depots rapidly decreased “given the very high levels of consumption observed in recent days“, noted the prefectures of Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud, in a joint press release Thursday evening.
For heavy goods vehicles, a maximum of 50 liters of diesel per day is authorized. Service stations will also have to stopany distribution of fuel when they only have 25% of the available pumpable stock left“. A return to normal is expected “next weekend“, assure the Corsican authorities after resupplies planned from Saturday.