service stations stormed by the French

In Hertain, a few kilometers from the Franco-Belgian border, you can hardly see more than French plates at the pumps of service stations. “Can I get gas? Is there fuel leaking?”, asks Mimi who comes from Lille. She made six stations in France before deciding to cross the border. “In France, I did not find an SP95-E10 and I was on the reserve”she explains, filling her tank “Up to the last drop”.

>> Fuel shortage: follow our live

Belgian petrol pumps located near the border with France have seen a 15 to 20% increase in demand in recent days, due to the strike action affecting several French refineries and fuel depots.

Theo lives in Baisieux, “next door. It’s more expensive but there’s less waiting”, he confides. But despite the supply difficulties, Théo fully supports the strike by employees of the TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil refineries. “I agree 100% with them. They are right to do what they do, he throws. We have to fight more and more to manage to pay the bills, to bring food to the plate in the evening”.

“We’re all having a hard time. Maybe they’ll manage to get things moving, to make people aware that we have our heads more and more under water when we all have a job.”

Théo, a resident of Baisieux

at franceinfo

“It’s a bit of a mess”on the other hand, reacts Jérôme, not far away, who fills up with diesel. “I was dry. I didn’t even have 50 kilometers left”. If he is not very happy with the situation, he does not shrink from the price displayed, 2.59 euros per litre. “In France too, it has increased, the Leclerc, it is at 1.98 euros”, he observes. These 60 cents more, “It’s nonsense. The workers of Total would have to come to an agreement”he says disillusioned.

Among the slew of French registrations, there are still some Belgians, who do not seem disturbed by the influx of their neighbors. “It’s normal, they are welcomesays this motorist who summarizes: A fortnight ago, we were in France too, because it was cheaper. Now, it’s the opposite, there is no more gasoline at home. So we agree to share.”