Around 1,500 petrol stations located on the forecourts of French supermarkets had run out of fuel Monday amid strikes against pension reform, their industry association told AFP.
Around 4,500 of France’s 12,500 filling stations are attached to shopping centres, and they are the country’s busiest, supplying 60 percent of the fuel used by French motorists.
“Twenty to 25 percent of our distribution capacity is either stopped or in trouble,” said Alexandre de Benoist, a senior official with Union of Independent Petroleum Importers, which represents the sector.
He said that some regions, in particular Brittany and western France, were in a “very worrying” situation because fuel distribution stations were either on strike or blockaded by strikers from other sites.
“There are at least 1,500 stations that have run out of at least one fuel product or are totally dry,” he added.
Paris, October 18, 2010 (AFP)
