Staff at France's Gravenchon, Fos, Gonfreville refineries remain on strike, operations halted

Staff at three French refineries were as of Oct. 3 continuing with their recent industrial action, with operations at the Gravenchon, Fos-sur-Mer and Gonfreville halted, according to company sources.

ExxonMobil's Gravenchon in the northwest and Fos-sur-Mer facility in southern France and TotalEnergies' Gonfreville in the northwest shut down a week ago after industrial action over pay negotiations started Sept. 20 at the Gravenchon facility and was followed Sept. 21 at Fos.

Staff at TotalEnergies' refineries joined the strike action Sept. 27, with the Gonfreville site in the northwest commencing its shutdown Sept. 28.

Meanwhile, strike action has been suspended at TotalEnergies' Donges and Feyzin facilities, the company said Oct. 3.

Donges is operating normally, the company said, adding that at the Feyzin refining and petrochemical platform "operations and works currently in progress are continuing normally."

The Feyzin refinery has been offline since around mid September due to technical problems, according to union sources and media reports. The refinery, which is currently undergoing works, is not likely to restart before the end of October.

Petroineos' Lavera refinery meanwhile is operating and has not been affected by the industrial action, according to market sources.

ExxonMobil said that "despite the challenges faced on our production sites, our supply coordination team is working hard to resupply our terminals while ensuring that any available inventory is fairly allocated between our different customers, helping to meet consumers demand."

TotalEnergies said Oct. 3 that the situation with supply is stable, as its "teams continue to mobilize to restock the network with additional logistical means."

The company reiterated that it has built up stocks and is currently importing regularly but that it has seen increased traffic at its service stations after cutting prices Sept. 1.