Strikes at French oil refineries continue amid fuel shortages
Due to ongoing strikes at the country’s oil refineries and storage facilities, French motorists have been forced to wait in huge lines at gas stations around the country in order to fill up their vehicles.
The strikes at TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil’s Esso France’s oil refineries and storage facilities will continue, according to a report from the country’s top labour union, the General Confederation of Labour (CGT).
According to reports, hundreds of gas stations around France, mainly in the Paris region, ran out of fuel on Monday after over a third of the stations had trouble receiving fuel deliveries.
French tanker drivers who distribute gasoline, oil, and chemical supplies declared their strike on Friday in protest of the country’s high cost of living and their low pay.
The CGT union has pledged to take whatever steps are necessary to force the management to the bargaining table in order to initiate talks about pay and working conditions.
The union has surrounded certain petroleum storage facilities across the country, and in Ile-de-greater France’s Paris region, it is limiting the number of fuel tankers that may depart.
French petroleum sector leaders from UFIP have played down concerns about fuel shortages, claiming that only a small fraction of the country’s 11,000 stations—roughly 100—were completely out of fuel. These numbers are consistent with the CGT’s claim that more than 180 stations are out of fuel.
The situation is a little worse than what industry officials claim, according to the fuel availability app mon-essence.fr, which relies its data on information from its users.
A spokesperson for Esso France informed Reuters that representatives from all four unions that represent the company’s employees will attend a meeting on Monday.
The oil strikes have increased the strain on French President Emmanuel Macron, whose administration is already dealing with popular discontent over inflation and rising living expenses.
On Sunday, thousands of protesters gathered in Paris to voice their displeasure with the country’s skyrocketing inflation and high cost of living and to demand that France formally withdraw from the NATO military alliance under the leadership of the United States.
Similar protests against skyrocketing inflation and the increased cost of living brought on by sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of the Ukraine war have taken place throughout the European Union.
Strikes at French oil refineries continue amid fuel shortages
Protesters around Europe demand that their governments adequately address the strain of rising mass-living costs and declining public standards of life.
Western countries have imposed waves of sanctions on Russia since the start of their military operation in Ukraine in late February, causing disruptions in the world oil and food markets.
Supply chain disruptions have raised fuel and food costs throughout the EU, pushing inflation to record highs and raising the cost of living.
The leaders of the European Union claim that Russia is using energy as a weapon by reducing gas supplies as punishment for sanctions.
