Some gas stations are still dry this Monday morning. In question, the rush of motorists to take advantage of TotalEnergies discounts and to anticipate the repercussions of the strike in progress in the refineries. However, according to the manufacturer, it is still too early to talk about a shortage.
Impossible, this Monday morning to refuel at the TotalEnergies station in Carry-le-Rouet (Bouches du Rhone). The situation is certainly no more favorable in Marseille, on Boulevard Plombière or at the Relais des Mille in Aix-en-Provence. In these two stations only one pump works, the one that delivers ethanol. Others are simply closed.
Same observation on Boulevard Rabataud where Karen Cassuto and Xavier Schuffenecker, our ground team, went. “I’m looking for a station, any, to get gasoline”complains a driver at the handlebars of his two wheels.
And on social networks, some share their difficulties: “Anyone know where to find gasoline?”, launches a desperate internet user.
A map put online by the energy giant allows you to monitor the availability of fuel hour by hour.
And the data confirm the difficulties encountered by motorists.
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It is for lead-free 95 that the lack is the most obvious. Of the 64 petrol stations listed in the municipality of Marseille by the government website “the price of fuel”, only 10 offer them.
Stock shortage now affects most brands. Until last week, only Total Energies stations were affected.
The group offers a discount of 18 cents on a liter of fuel, in addition to the 30 cents paid by the government. The rush of motorists to the brand’s stations created supply difficulties.
Since the end of September, social movements have also stopped producing fuel. First of all the employees of Esso, from September 20, to which are added those of TotalEnergies from September 27. The strikers are demanding wage increases to cope with inflation.
As a result, most of the country’s refineries were closed this weekend, including the Esso site in Fos-sur-Mer and the Total-La Mède refinery.
The stations that are still stocked are stormed by motorists. It is the fear of running out of gas that pushes you to fill up “just in case”.
Like this trader who goes to the markets of the region met by our journalists. “A full tank is 1000 terminals, sometimes I drive 240 kilometers a day, so I have a full tank in advance just in case …”
However, the energy giants are reluctant to talk about shortages. “We confirm that there is no shortage of fuel because TotalEnergies has accumulated stocks and currently imports regularly”, Total Energie’s press service reported us in an email.
“Despite the social movements, the refueling of our stations continues as part of the price reduction operation”.
According to the energy giant, the reason for the lack of fuel on Monday morning would rather come from the increase in demand, with a 30% increase in attendance at service stations. The manufacturer therefore recommends its customers not to do this “run to the station”.
But the situation could last. The price reduction proposed by Total should in fact continue until the end of the year. For its part, the CGT has announced that it wants to record the strike movement over time.
But even in the event of a shortage, France has strategic fuel reserves that would make it possible to guarantee the country’s vital needs.
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