Due to ongoing strikes at four refineries and storage locations of oil companies TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, France is struggling with an increasing fuel shortage. There are now stock problems at about a third of French gas stations, the French Ministry of Energy reported on Sunday. The employees of the concerns have been on strike for two weeks to achieve higher wages.
To end the strike, TotalEnergies has Sunday suggested to bring forward the planned salary negotiations from mid-November to October. The company is under intense pressure due to the strikes. Since the start of the actions, national oil production has fallen by 60 percent, leaving long lines for fuel at gas stations.
French energy minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher reports on Twitter to use the country’s strategic oil reserves to counter the fuel shortage. She calls on the oil companies to find a solution quickly, so that the French population no longer suffers the consequences of the wage war: ‘this conflict must end’. She also asks drivers not to hoard so that everyone can continue to fill up the necessary amount of fuel.
The ANWB emergency center has received several reports in recent days from Dutch motorists who have run out of fuel. The organisation reported Saturday that requests for help mainly came from Dutch people in the north of France and along the Route du Soleil. The ANWB advises Dutch people who are still traveling to France to fill the tank in Luxembourg or Belgium and to refuel regularly in France where this is possible. Due to the fuel shortage, people with breakdowns are also only helped in unsafe situations along the highways.