Aurélien Fleurot 07h26, 08 April 2023

The Easter weekend does not start under the best auspices. As Zone A begins its holidays, and many motorists prepare to hit the road to enjoy the first long weekend of the year, fuel shortages are looming. In some departments, two out of five stations lack at least one fuel.

Will we spend Easter dry? Some motorists ask themselves the question, at the time of the first departures on vacation. From Bordeaux to Lyon via Clermont-Ferrand, Zone A begins its spring holidays with the fear of a fuel shortage.

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A heterogeneous situation

In fact, at the national level, the situation seems to be under control, since only 7% of petrol stations are short of at least one fuel. But at the regional level, not all motorists face the same difficulties. Several regions are seeing the shortage worsen day by day, such as in Centre-Val-de-Loire and Pays-de-la-Loire, where 20 to 25% of petrol stations lack at least one fuel.

Same thing in the Paris region, with departments very impacted such as Val-de-Marne where 40% of stations lack fuel.

An improvement in sight?

"The best precautions to take on this long weekend, if you go out outside Ile de France for example, is to fill up outside this region before coming back, to be sure to have fuel, since even if the diesel is back almost to normal, there are still difficulties on the unleaded", explains to the mciro of Europe 1, the president of the service stations branch of the Mobilians union, Françis Pousse.

Good news for motorists nevertheless, the situation is being unblocked in several refineries, such as the La Mède refinery, near Marseille, where the blockade has ended. But the improvements will not be for this weekend, but rather from the middle of next week. And nothing seems totally settled since in Donges in Loire-Atlantique, the strike movement should resume from next Thursday.