A total of 16 percent of France’s filling stations – representing 1,600 outlets – were out of at least one type of fuel on Thursday morning, according to the latest calculations.
As well as spiralling prices at the pump, motorists in France are also grappling with increasing shortages of fuel at filling stations.
On Wednesday, the government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said that only around 10 percent of filling stations were experiencing shortages, and that the worst affected were TotalEnergies stations – likely because the French oil giant has capped prices at €1.99 for petrol and €2.09 for diesel.
However a calculation by French media France Info’s Vrai ou Faux fact-checker found that on Thursday morning 1,600 filling stations were reporting being out of at least one type of fuel – 16 percent of the total.
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Worst affected are diesel supplies – on Thursday, 1,000 stations reported being out of diesel (10 percent of the total) , 637 were out of SP95 (standard unleaded petrol), 635 were out of SP98 (premium unleaded) and 484 were out of E10 – some stations had run out of several different types of fuel.
Around 60 percent of the stations affected are TotalEnergies.
The government says that overall supplies are not under threat, and the shortages are largely down to panic buying, or motorists rushing to fill up before prices rise again.
Bregeon added, “We still have 100 million barrels in our strategic reserves.
“We have committed to gradually releasing 14.5 million barrels to the International Energy Agency. We haven’t reached that 14.5 million yet, so we have some leeway, and we will respond as needed to occasional supply difficulties, which are also due to logistical issues.”
