The CGT and the management of TotalEnergies have not managed to reach an agreement, despite repeated calls from the government to negotiate on wages and to end the blockades causing a serious shortage of fuel. The CGT has renewed its strike movement until Tuesday, October 11, while the strike also continues in the two French refineries of Esso-ExxonMobil.
From north to south of France, the same scenes are repeated: closed stations, endless queues and rising prices. At 6 p.m. Monday, 29.4% of service stations were in difficulty at the national level, announced on franceinfo the Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
“If a slight improvement is observed in Hauts-de-France, from 54.8% yesterday to 48.4% today, and in Ile-de-France, from 44.9% yesterday to 33.9 % today, other difficulties are appearing on the territory, including in areas that are not affected by the current social movement such as the Atlantic coast”the ministry said in a statement.
Faced with supply difficulties at service stations, all prefects will receive instructions on Tuesday to prohibit the sale and purchase of fuel in a canister or jerrycan-type container, franceinfo learned from the Ministry of the energy transition.
After Vaucluse, the prefectures of Var and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in turn announced on Monday evening that individuals could not take more than 30 liters of fuel from service stations in these departments, for “allow as many people as possible to refuel”.
The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, brought together four ministers on Monday evening to “to take stock of the state of the discussions” between companies and unions. Emmanuel Macron again called on the management of the oil groups and the unions on Monday to “the responsibility”pointing out that “the blocking” fuel depots was not “no way to negotiate”.
While waiting for an upturn, the government has released strategic fuel stocks, and TotalEnergies is importing fuel to compensate for the shutdown of two of its three refineries.