Gas shortage in the West: a gas station in five out – L’Express

The Rush pumps full swing. Long queues at the stations still open, sometimes up to the road: drivers still stalk the fuel Sunday in most western cities to face the threat of shortage, due to blocking refineries by opponents of the Labor law. Four refineries are still stopped to this day. The situation should, however, improve as the road got concessions from the government.

Many stations are now dry. On Saturday, the French Union of Petroleum Industries (UFIP) estimated Saturday between “15% to 20% the number of stations with total or partial break in the Great West.” For its part, Total had recorded 317 in its network in mid-day, 54% of its stations in Britain, 46% in Normandy, 43% in Pays de la Loire, 34% in Nord-Pas de-Calais and Picardy. Those still supplied literally stormed with impressive queues and congestion at times, as evidenced by this tweet posted Saturday.

Landerneau (Finistère), a supermarket even had to close his service station, because the queue fuel vehicles waiting prevented customers from accessing the store, the daily reported The telegram .

Saturday in Saint-Brieuc as in Brest, Rennes and Nantes, it was sometimes more than half an hour to an hour, to access the pumps, according to the testimony of motorists, some discouraged, sometimes did turn around. Leclerc center Plancoët (Brittany) Subject to its side access to its service station customers justifying a higher purchase to 60 euros in the store.

If the exact situation is difficult to change, fluctuating stocks from one station to another and even from one department to another, the rush to the pumps could boost the risk of shortages fuel, despite the rationing measures Friday in several departments and even force this Saturday.

20 to 30 liters per vehicle

The Ille-et-Vilaine prefectures, Côtes d’Armor, Finistère, Orne , Loire-Atlantique, Vendée, Mayenne or Eure and Cher took Friday arrested limited to 20 or 30 liters maximum volume of gasoline for vehicles, and 40 or 150 liters for weight heavy.

Several prefectures have banned the storage in cans, as in Seine-Maritime, Calvados, Nord, Somme and the Pas-de-Calais, calling “civic commitment and responsibility each”. Other commandeered some stations for supplying fuel to the emergency services. The announcement of this rationing may well have prompted motorists to want to be prudent, go fill their tank at the risk of contributing to the shortage.

oil storage places Evacuated

Late Friday afternoon, authorities evacuated the access to six of the eight storage locations oil who were stranded for days by employees of the transport sector, opposed to labor law. This was the case for those of Vern-sur-Seiche (Ille-et-Vilaine) and the port of Lorient (Morbihan), both released by the police.

Nearly Rouen, they have also released the deposit terminal Ruby Grand-Quevilly and four blocked deposits in the North, there remained only one Friday evening, according prefectures. Saturday morning, the access of the third refinery in France, that of Exxon Mobil, in Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon (Seine-Maritime) were also released by the CGT and FO union that blocked.