France: Refinery Dispute Set to Spread
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Tuesday, 23 February 2010 |
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Strikes at French refineries looked likely to spread as ExxonMobil
employees Friday were called to join a protest at oil giant Total that
has shut down seven plants and raised fears of supply cuts.
Total’s management said they had started halting refining operations
after unions extended their two-day strike to an unlimited action. The
CGT union then called for a one-day strike at the two refineries in
France run by ExxonMobil, to support the Total workers, citing similar
restructuring proposals at ExxonMobil.
The Total strike last Friday affected seven of the company’s 31
refineries which supply about half of France’s service station network.
Total insisted there was “at this stage no risk of a shortage” of fuel
at the pumps. The French Petroleum Industry Union said the country’s
depots had up to three weeks’ worth of fuel.
The management of Total, which is under pressure after announcing
possible job cuts last month, said there was “a hardening of the
movement” since unions on Wednesday had only announced a two-day
strike. The director of the Feyzin refinery, Jean-Pierre Poncin, said
however that “if the strike continues, there will be tension in the
Rhone-Alpes region (in southern France) in the coming days” since some
oil depots were also on strike.
PetrolWorld 220210
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