The strike at French oil refineries hit shipments of oil products on Wednesday. However, as the government and oil companies kept fuel flowing to gas stations, the strike did not disrupt traffic on the roads.
The strike is part of national protests against the government’s pension reform plans. Less than 2 percent of France’s 11,000 petrol stations had run out of fuel at the end of the second day of the strike.
Less than 5 percent of workers at Total’s four refineries were on strike. The company said there was no risk of fuel shortages. Disturbances were also reported limited at ExxonMobil’s plants.
As the government has already confirmed truckers can keep their rights to early retirement, they did not take part in the strike. Oil companies said refineries continued to operate, storing their output in onsite tanks, although trucks and pipelines were blocked by striking workers.
Industry specialists say that some refineries may have to shut down if the strike were to continue into next week, as their capacity to store output is limited.
France owns strategic stocks worth three months of consumption. The country also already imports 50 percent of the diesel it needs.
