Due to ‘logistical issues’, around 18 percent of petrol stations is running out of one or more types of fuel following the long Easter weekend, France’s Energy Ministry announced Tuesday.
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Minister of State for Energy, Maud Bregeon, announced on Tuesday that around 18 percent of petrol stations in France are temporarily out of at least one type of fuel following the Easter weekend.
“These difficulties are due to logistical and transport issues,” she told RMC/BFMTV, particularly at stations in the TotalEnergies network, which has capped fuel prices, leading to increased footfall at its stations.
“83 percent of the stations experiencing difficulties are part of the TotalEnergies network,” the minister continued.
At other stations, the rate of depleted supplies for at least one fuel type is only around 4 percent, Bregeon assured.
Olivier Gantois, president of the French Union of Petroleum Industries (UFIP), said on RTL radio on Tuesday morning that “most stations will be restocked as early as today.”
The UFIP president said he does not foresee a shortage emerging, noting that the rise in fuel prices in March did not reduce consumption among the French, who purchased 1 percent more fuel than in March 2025.
The rise in diesel and petrol prices – averaging €2.315 per litre for diesel (the most widely used fuel in France) and €2.015 for SP95-E10 on Monday, according to AFP calculations – is directly driving up costs for both businesses and households.
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Complaints
Roadblocks organised by public works and landscaping firms were set up on Tuesday morning on the ring road around Nantes, in protest at rising prices for non-road diesel (GNR) and diesel, according to the National Chamber of Public Works and Landscaping Craftsmen (CNATP).
In Corsica, meanwhile, fishermen have blocked the island’s six main ports since Tuesday morning, denouncing what they call a “deadly spiral” of rising fuel costs, already higher there than on the mainland.
Amid the growing discontent, the government said it is planning a new support scheme for some of the hardest-hit professions.
Maude Bregeon specifically cited care assistants, home helpers and certain farmers still facing particular difficulties.
However, the minister ruled out any “universal support, because we cannot afford it.”
She also rejected a price freeze, despite union calls for the introduction of a “maximum price of €1.70 at the pump.”
“That would very quickly lead to supply shortages,” Bregeon said on Tuesday.
(with AFP)
