Fuel, gas… Should we fear shortages with the strikes?

Margaux Fodéré, edited by Alexandre Dalifard 06:14, March 08, 2023

They had promised it, they did it: in energy, the strike is here to last.

The country's seven refineries are blocked, like the four LNG terminals which allow gas to be imported.

The service stations are dry and the endless queues in front of the few pumps still filled.

A question arises: will there be shortages?

For now, there is nothing to worry about.

Admittedly, all the refineries are blocked, but not yet the 200 depots from which the delivery trucks leave.

So gas stations are always supplied with fuel.

>> READ ALSO -

 Pensions: the inter-union announces two new days of mobilization, including one this Saturday

3 months of strategic stocks

Distributors, in anticipation of the movement, filled their stocks to the maximum.

On average, there is always enough to last a month.

And alongside these commercial reserves, there are also state stocks, recalls Francis Pousse, national service station president at the Mobilians union.

"There are three months of strategic stocks, compulsory storage for the State, in the event of a problem. So diesel and gasoline are not lacking in the territory", he underlines.

Finally, in the coming days, it is above all panic movements and influxes at the pump that could worsen the situation, as in October.

>> READ ALSO -

 Strike against pension reform: does an employer have the right to refuse teleworking to his employee?

Significant gas reserves

No need to worry about the gas supply for the moment either, winter has started with stocks filled to 100%.

And even if they decreased during the winter, they remain important.

Unlike electricity, where cuts can be orchestrated, cutting off gas to consumers is much more complicated, for technical reasons.