France resumes strikes at TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil refineries

Workers at refineries and storage facilities owned by TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil went on strike on October 8 amid continued fuel shortages at some of the nation’s gas stations, Report informs referring to AFP.

According to the French General Confederation of Labor, in total, due to the strike, the largest TotalEnergies refinery in Normandy, as well as two ExxonMobil refineries, were suspended. This weekend, the fuel depot in the Seine-et-Marne department near Paris is closed.

At the same time, the morning shift of the shipping department at the TotalEnergies refinery near Lyon was on strike in full force.

Due to the strikes that have been going on since the end of September, a number of gas stations faced with a restriction in the supply of fuel, which led to the depletion of gasoline and diesel fuel stocks. For its part, TotalEnergies attributes fuel shortages at some gas stations to the previously announced discount of 20 cents per liter, which was introduced by agreement with the government in addition to the already announced state discount of 30 cents per liter.

French TV channels have been showing footage of long queues at the entrances to some gas stations for several days now. In some cases, drivers have to wait up to an hour to get to a gas station.