French government threatens to lift strike blockade of oil refineries

AFP: The French government on Tuesday threatened to forcibly break blockades of refineries and oil depots, which have been paralysed by striking workers, as motorists continued to besiege petrol stations in the hope of filling their tanks.

Around a third of France's service stations were still low on, or out of, petrol as strike action at energy giant TotalEnergies and other oil majors entered its third week and wage negotiations were stalling.

Government ministers and President Emmanuel Macron have urged a negotiated resolution to the crisis, but on Tuesday government spokesman Olivier Veran threatened force to end the blockades which have paralysed several of France's refineries and oil depots.

If strikers failed to reestablish access "immediately", Veran told the RTL broadcaster, "we will step in, which means we could intervene to lift them".

The government could then "requisition qualified personnel" to ensure that the situation can go "back to normal", he said.

He said ongoing action by the hard-left CGT union at TotalEnergies installations was "excessive and out of line".

The oil giant's management "is right to demand that blockades be lifted before there can be negotiations", Veran said.

Once access to refineries and depots was free, it would take around two weeks for the fuel situation to be back to normal, Veran said.

Stoppages continued at several refineries Tuesday, including at France's biggest near Le Havre in the north of the country after the CGT renewed its strike call and widened strike action to more than a dozen service stations along French motorways.

Unions at the French branch of Esso-ExxonMobil on Tuesday also renewed their strike call, rejecting a pay offer by management.

Motorists formed long queues outside petrol stations early Tuesday. In central Paris, traffic slowed as waiting cars blocked roads, cycling paths and pedestrian crossings, hoping to be served before the pumps went dry.

Many used social media to exchange tips. One post in a Facebook group Monday said that a local BP service station would be resupplied "at 2:30 pm". Another replied: "It's now 2:37 pm and they're out of diesel." Another user reacted: "What a mess."

The petrol crisis comes at a time of high energy prices and inflation that are sapping French households' purchasing power.

The left-wing opposition coalition Nupes has called for a "March against a high cost of living" in Paris and elsewhere on Sunday.

At the weekend, several prominent French people came out in support of the initiative, including this year's winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Annie Ernaux.