French refineries and ports continued to face disruptions Wednesday as the strike called by the CGT union against changes in labor legislation entered its second week and is also spreading into other sectors, including the railways, metro and air traffic control.
Of France's eight refineries, four remain at a complete standstill, including Total's refineries at Donges, Feyzin, Gonfreville and Grandpuits. Total's La Mede, however, is now running at 80% of capacity and has resumed pipeline deliveries of products. But the labor union on the site does not rule out a complete halt of production and has demanded that the refinery does not supply products to the French market, according to media reports.
ExxonMobil's Gravenchon Port Jerome and Fos-sur-Mer are operating normally and loading products, the company said.
Runs at Petroineos' Lavera refinery have been reduced due to maintenance, but also as a result of the strike, according to sources.
But with discharges halted at nearby Mediterranean oil terminals at Fos and Lavera at the port of Marseille, crude deliveries to the Lavera refinery as well as to the Cressier refinery in Switzerland, which receives crude via a pipeline, are threatened, according to reports.
Tugboats at Marseille are also planning a strike June 2.
Meanwhile, the French railway SNCF is starting an unlimited industrial action Wednesday, which is likely to threaten rail deliveries of oil products, according to reports.
Meanwhile, the supply situation across the retail network appears to have improved. The nine oil storage units operated by Total are working normally, the company said, and the number of its retail stations facing supply issues has dropped to around 300. Earlier, more than 600 of its 2,200 retail stations were facing some kind of disruption.
