Approximately 1 in 3 French gas stations has at least one fuel

Paris
CNN
–

About 28.5% – nearly a third – of mainland France fuel stations have run out of at least one fuel stock, French Energy Transformation Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told reporters on Friday.

She added that in the Parisian region of Ile-de-France, this figure was 25.5% Friday, down from 31.7% yesterday.

A source from the French Prime Minister’s office on Friday blamed the long queues and depletion of stocks at French gas stations this week on panic buying, not just supply problems.

This is despite the gas companies providing a 30% to 50% increase in gas supplies to the pumps this week, compared to a normal week, the source said.

Sources from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Transitional Energy Ministry said demand for the gas pump this week was at least 20% higher than normal.

The sources added that As soon as the strike endsIt will take a week or two for the refinery’s production and the logistical situation in France to return to normal.

earlier this week, The French government ordered employees of the ExxonMobil refinery In Normandy to return to work, a very unusual move.

Meanwhile, French energy giant TotalEnergies on Friday struck a deal with two French unions, CFE-CGC and CFDT, to raise salaries for 2023.

But the strike continues in four of the seven refineries in France. All four of these sites are operated by TotalEnergies.

The CGT union – one of the country’s largest – has refused to accept Total’s offer, with CGT Secretary of the European Commission for TotalEnergies, Thierry Deverson, on Friday calling for a broader industry move on October 18.

CGT has requested a 10% increase in workers’ wages.

Under the terms of the deal with two other unions, TotalEnergies will give TotalEnergies a 7% salary increase for 2023, the company said in a press release.

The agreement includes a salary increase for all employees as well as a bonus equivalent to one month’s wages.

But the CGT union vowed to continue the strike after withdrawing from negotiations with the union chief and calling on workers in other sectors to join a broader strike on Tuesday, October 18.

– CNN’s Pierre Perrin and Rene Bertini in Paris also contributed to this story