“7%” of service stations were short of one of the fuels yesterday, according to the French Union of Petroleum Industries

“7%” service stations in France were short of one of the fuels on Wednesday, indicates Olivier Gantois, president of the French Union of Petroleum Industries (UFIP), this Thursday, March 9 on franceinfo. Fuel shipments are still blocked at the exit of the refineries of TotalEnergies and Esso-ExxonMobil in France, as part of the mobilization against the pension reform.

No rush at the gas pump

For this reason, “we were [mercredi] slightly above the normal fuel out-of-stock level at the station”adds the boss of the UFIP. “Unfortunately, there are always gas stations running out of fuel, regardless of strikes”he relativizes, however. “There are nearly 200 deposits in France”, he also points out. Implied: fuel, there is some in stock.

Olivier Gantois speaks directly to motorists who might be tempted to rush into service stations. “Don’t go if you don’t need to go”. According to him, there is no rush at the pump. This is explained by the fact “that there is almost no problem” and that‘”there are stations that have fuel all over the national territory”. “Perhaps the motorist is becoming reasonable”he also says.

Retail market share down slightly

He further clarifies that there is “a slight drop in the number of service stations” between last year and the year before. “At the tally we made on December 31, 2022, there were 11,039 service stations in France”either “a hundred less than a year earlier”. “The market share of large retailers”Who “was progressing for decades, I would say more than 30 years”also “slightly lowered”.

In effect, “we went to 59.9% market share for mass distribution”he explains. “We think it’s due to the discounts that have been put in place by some distributors and not by others”, he explains. From September to December 2022, TotalEnergies granted discounts at the pump of 20 then 10 cents per liter in its stations.