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Blockades end at most French refineries

27 October 2010 18:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Most French oil refineries were set to start outbound deliveries of fuel as work stoppages ended at two plants on Wednesday, further easing a strike movement that has led to pump shortages across France, APA reports quoting â€œReutersâ€.
But while the ending of blockades should allow existing stocks to be shipped to petrol stations, refinery production is likely to remain minimal due to a lack of crude supply from the strike-hit oil ports of Fos-Lavera and Le Havre, union officials said.
Workers at Total’s La Mede refinery in southern France and at Petroplus’ Petit Couronne plant in the north voted on Wednesday to end strikes, which have involved the blocking of fuel shipments from the sites, the CGT union said.
The resumption of deliveries from the two refineries would bring to seven the number of plants open to fuel shipments, out of a total of 12 refineries in France.
The La Mede plant was also the first of Total’s six French refineries to end strike action. The other Total refineries will stay on strike at least until Friday, said Charles Foulard, CGT coordinator at Total.
"Whatever happens at the end of the week, we have shown our capacity to resist," he told Reuters.
Production was still halted at least 10 refineries due to strike action or because they were suffering from a lack of crude oil linked to a one-month strike at the Fos-Lavera oil hub and a two-week strike at the port of Le Havre, unions said.
"If by the end of the week the strike has not ended at Fos-Lavera (port), we won’t be able to restart the plant," a CFDT union official at the LyondellBasell refinery said.
CGT union officials said the return to work at La Mede and Petit Couronne would not lead to a restart in production unless crude supply resumed from Fos-Lavera and Le Havre, respectively.
Among the 10 refineries halted, one in Dunkirk has been idled for more than a year as Total prepared to shut it down.
Strikers have resumed work at Exxon Mobil’s two refineries in France. The Fos-sur-Mer plant was producing at a minimum level, but production was more uncertain in Port-Jerome.
An Exxon spokeswoman said on Tuesday the company was trying to find crude oil to restart the Port-Jerome plant, which relies Le Havre for its supplies.