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Three-week strikes in France have affected oil refineries

  • March 27, 2023
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Protests against the French government’s pension reform continued on Monday until its 20th day and at least six out of seven refineries in France were closed or operated

Three-week strikes in France have affected oil refineries

Protests against the French government’s pension reform continued on Monday until its 20th day and at least six out of seven refineries in France were closed or operated at reduced capacity, while liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals were blocked.

Production was limited at the TotalEnergies plant in Gonfreville. TTEF.PA and at the Exxon Mobil Port Jerome-Gravenchon complex. XOM.N due to strikes, and others two refineries operate at reduced capacity and two more have been decommissioned for repairs.

A spokesman for Petroineos, which runs France’s seventh refinery at Lavere, said he had no information on whether production had been halted at its site.

Photo: Reuters

The action is part of a national movement against changes in the pension system, which is championed by President Emmanuel Macron. raise the retirement age to 64.

Last week, hundreds of thousands of protesters, including several unions, took to the streets to protest the plan they say the government is forcing on them.

The largest oil refineries in France, Gonfreville and Port-Jerome, located in the north of the country, can process about 240,000 barrels of oil per day (bbl/d) and can supply the ÃŽle-de-France region, where the capital Paris is located.

Photo: Reuters

The Gonfreville refinery produces aviation kerosene used by local airports, which have reported problems in recent weeks due to lack of supplies.

The Civil Aviation Authority said in a tweet on Twitter that air traffic will be interrupted from Monday until early Thursday at the Paris airports of Orly, Marseille, Bordeaux and Toulouse.

An Esso spokesperson said on Friday that the company was forced to shut down production at its Port Jerome refinery. after the total blockade of crude oil supplies from the terminal in Le Havre, which began on 20 March.

The plant is expected to return to production as soon as deliveries from Le Havre resume and the strike ends. However, restarting the Port Jerome plant will take several weeks, they added.

Reuters

Source: Aristegui Noticias

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