In order to supply service stations, some of which are still dry, heavy goods vehicles transporting hydrocarbons will be able to circulate on All Saints’ Day, according to a decree published on Saturday October 29 in Official newspaperwhile the government mobilized army trucks to speed up deliveries.
In view of “Tensions on the supply of fuels observed on the national territory”the bans on the circulation of transport vehicles of more than 7.5 tonnes provided for by a previous decree of April 2021 are lifted for Monday 31 October, Tuesday 1is and Wednesday, November 2 for “vehicles for transporting hydrocarbon products, with the exception of butane, propane and gases for industrial use”.
These vehicles will be able to circulate during these three days “in order to allow supplies between oil depots as well as from oil depots to distribution points and end customers”and return empty.
Tensions persist
The executive has already taken four similar decrees since October 7. “We have also asked the depots to extend their opening hours today (Saturday)and to open the 1is november. Five big deposits will be”told Agence France-Presse (AFP) a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Energy Transition.
The government no longer gives statistics on the number of service stations running out of fuel, a consequence of the movement, started by the CGT on September 27, which caused supply difficulties throughout the country. “At the national level, the situation has improved significantly, but there are still tensions in Ile-de-France, and to a lesser extent in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté”noted the spokesperson.
“What the prefects are seeing is that the stations have fewer difficulties and therefore have less of a reflex to declare on the price-fuel site”which is supposed to account for food. “Hence the fact that some stations sometimes appear out of stock when they are no longer”she remarked.
“Improvements” to be expected by this weekend
“We are continuing our action, always freeing up strategic stocks to streamline logistics, and with the support of trucks from the Ministry of the Armed Forces to deliver professionals, in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions in particular”underlined the spokesperson, adding that “large volumes of gasoline have been injected into the Le Havre-Paris pipeline” to supply Ile-de-France. The motorway stations were served as a priority, according to her.
“Special tensions will disappear within a few days. The improvement should be seen by this weekend.”assured Franceinfo on Friday the president of the French Union of Petroleum Industries (UFIP), Olivier Gantois.
The difficulties still mainly concern unleaded gasoline, which is not imported, according to him. Two TotalEnergies sites continued the movement on Saturday: the Gonfreville-L’Orcher refinery (Seine-Maritime) and the Feyzin depot (Lyon metropolis).