Pension reform: fuel shortages in the West, worries about oil at Paris airports

Are Paris airports in danger of running out of oil? Supplying Île-de-France and its airports via Normandy “getting critical”According to the information of the Transitional Ministry of Energy, due to strikes in factories. The government has so “Issued a requisition order” As for the strikers, what was not informed “on this stage” To the employees of the closed factory last weekend.

“The government monitors the situation hourly and department by department with professionals and prefects. We will intervene on purpose to unblock deposits that hinder demonstrators. As soon as the props cannot be avoided, we will take our responsibility”– said Transitional Minister of Energy Agnes Panier-Runacher.

On the other hand, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has been warning airlines for several days that there are oil reserves at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle and Paris-Orly airports. “under pressure”, prompting them to take precautions. ” To avoid any operational problems, all flights to Paris-CDG are committed to receiving as much fuel as possible from their origin airport, within operational capacity. DGAC announced the device in a notification sent on March 17.

“When everyone is trying to fill their tank to 100%, the system can’t respond”

Adding to the tension is a growing shortage of gasoline and diesel at the country’s gas stations: 15% of France’s stations were short of one or another fuel on Thursday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP), up from 40% in Loire-Atlantique and several departments in Brittany.

“When everyone is trying to fill their tank to 100%, the system can’t respond”, Esso France CEO Charles Amiot explained at a press conference on Thursday to present the financial results. According to him, the problem is primarily logistical, in terms of supplying oil refineries, blocking some ports and supplying gasoline to stations. This kerosene, he said, is not what it is for “No stock problem”.

The government says it is ready to reprimand the Esso refinery in Foss-sur-Mer on Tuesday to resume fuel supplies. And in order to relieve the country’s stations, these details have been updated for 48 hours. For the TotalEnergies site in Gonfreville-L’Orcher, the prefecture did not send police to hand out requisition letters to workers, but it did send a mandate Wednesday evening, according to Alexis Antonioli, general secretary of the CGT plant.

On Thursday morning, twenty workers were still gathered with the unions, who refused to enter the factory.

The state attacks the “symbol” to “disintegrate the strike movement”.

“The social movement is based on key sectors that can have a very strong blocking effect, including, first of all, refineries, so it was very important to come here to support them, because it is also on their shoulders.Alma Dufour, an LFI deputy on the picket line, told AFP.

TotalEnergies’ Normandy refinery is on the same pipelines as CIM (Compagnie industrielle maritime) in Le Havre and the neighboring Esso-ExxonMobil refinery in Port-Jérôme-Gravenchon, which supply Paris airports. Fuel shipments from the Esso refinery have also been blocked, according to the CGT, whose general secretary says:

“The management is limited to the same proposals that have been offered at night and tells us that they may agree to negotiate with the prefect to stop props, but the colleague is to send kerosene, which is completely absurd because it amounts to That they force us to send what they ask us for. »

For trade unionists, beyond the kerosene figures, which are relatively modest, the state wants to crack down “symbol”that the first refinery ceased production and thus “Break the Strike”.

TotalEnergies has only four refineries still in operation at Faisin near Lyon – from which the attackers continue to block shipments. Two others (Dongy, in Loire-Atlantique, and La Médée, in Bouches-du-Rhône) were arrested for reasons other than the strike. Petroineos’ only French plant in Lavera (Bouche-du-Rhône) was shut down due to the strike.

Two Esso-ExxonMobil refineries in Port-Jerome-Gravenchon and Fos-sur-Mer are still operating, but fuel shipments are still blocked, according to CGT.