France: Refinery Deliveries, Operations Hampered by Strikes

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday March 21, 2023

French refineries and depots have had deliveries blocked for two weeks, creating a backlog in storage and forcing companies to reduce production.

Strikes have stretched into a 14th day, blocking deliveries of oil products from four TotalEnergies refineries and hitting output at two of them as storage fills, Reuters reports.

Production has been stopped at its 240,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Gonfreville refinery and production is reduced at its 119,000 bpd Feyzin oil refinery in southern France, the company was cited as saying.

Strikes have also affected ExxonMobil subsidiary Esso's 140,000 bpd Fos refinery at Fos-sur-Mer where deliveries have been disrupted since March 7.

A strike resumed on March 18 at the 240,000 bpd Port Jerome-Gravenchon in northern France, where deliveries are also blocked, according to the report.

Behind the dispute lie government attempts to reform social conditions including raising the national pension age by two years.