Some 3.75% of French service stations ran out of either gasoline or diesel (AFP/Archives/Geoffroy Van der Hasselt)
Some 3.75% of French service stations ran out of either petrol or diesel on Monday morning, according to public data analyzed by AFP, with the oil sector citing precautionary fill-ups before the strike against pension reform , repeating that stocks are full.
These figures remain far from the more than 40% observed on national average at the peak of the refinery strike at TotalEnergies and Esso-ExxonMobil in October, with shortages which were even more serious in certain regions. But they are higher than the 0.5% observed for example on Monday 2 January.
This was the case of a TotalEnergies station in Issy-les-Moulineaux on Monday, which only served diesel. “It’s become nonsense. For a country which, supposedly, is in the top ten of the world powers, it’s nonsense”, exclaims a motorist, Ayoub El Madaouy.
“We have no information from our members indicating that there would be problems, nor any particular alarm signal”, insists to AFP Ufip Energies and Mobility, which represents the oil sector in France, him also targeted by strike calls on Thursday.
The statistics come from data available on the prix-carburants.gouv.fr website and cover approximately 10,000 points of sale.
This national average masks regional disparities: nearly one in five stations was affected on Monday in Yvelines (18%) and more than one in ten (13%) in Pas-de-Calais. In these two departments, 5% of the stations were dry, ie had neither diesel nor gasoline.
In four other departments (Hauts-de-Seine, Loir-et-Cher, Mayenne and Essonne), fuel shortages affect between 10 and 11% of stations.
– Deposits full –
Although there is “no reason to worry on today’s date” because “the depots are full”, some motorists are refueling as a precaution, indicates Francis Pousse, president of the organization employer Mobilians, which represents independent stations: “For three days, we have seen between + 10% and + 30% in sales”, he said on BFMTV.
“This is the reason why, especially in the Paris region where there is a lack of service stations, we have seen fuel removal records. As there are practically no deliveries on Saturdays, and zero on Sundays, this created the difficulties” of this Monday, he said.
According to him, the call to block shipments from refineries for 24 hours on Thursday and then for longer durations “cannot handicap the service stations since in fact, the delivery of the stations depends mainly on the 200 depots, rather than the refineries. However, the deposits are full, and the strategic part, the +State stocks+ are completely filled today”.
“There is no lack of fuel in our stations. In addition, stocks in depots and service stations are at a satisfactory level”, also assured TotalEnergies.
The group “regrets that the terms set out by the CGT have the objective of blocking refineries and therefore hindering the mobility of the French”, and says it is working with the authorities “who ensure the proper supply of the territory”.
At the same time, diesel stabilized last week in France at an average price of 1.8846 euros per liter, or 1.48 cents less than the previous week, according to figures from the Ministry of Energy Transition stopped Friday and published Monday . Unleaded 95 petrol cost 1.8572 euros on average, and SP95-E10 1.8365 euros, each having risen by less than a penny in a week.
But prices at the pump rose sharply again in early January, with the end of the state-funded discount. This cost 8 billion euros last year. An indemnity of 100 euros replaces it, which the motorists concerned – it is according to their income – can request since Monday on the tax site.
© 2023 AFP
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