Anyone in southernFrance? Can you give me the lowdown on the petrol situation?

[cremolafoam]

I have heard a rumor that there is a petrol shortage?
Is this true? Would I be insane to think of driving from La Rochelle to Montpelier to see a friend next week?

don't think so I'm in Pau, will check with my DH who is in Nice at the moment

just come back from France yesterday and there was no petrol shortage that I saw and I was near La Rochelle.

There have been some blockades of storage depots and ports but they have been lifted to my knowledge last week and won't be going back until the 23rd ish of June

Have fun

I wonder if the blockades will affect holiday makers in July

No petrol shortage. We were in Tourrette over the weekend (between Cannes & Marseille) and I am now near Nice and bought gas this afternoon.

It cost EUR 1.6/lt for '98' (there is also a cheaper '95' kind), so it's quite expensive, though.

thanks cd'a
and everyone
will stick to '95 sans plomb i think.

I'm near Marseille; the week before last there was a serious petrol shortage due to protesters blocking the Fos refinery. There was no diesel left anywhere in my (small and panic-prone) town and the queues at stations caused huge traffic jams. It lasted two or three days and was fairly local, I think. Things then returned to normal.

A depot at La Mède (near Marseille) and another one near Frontignan are now blocked, so the scenario may well be repeated; the Frontignan protest might affect Montpellier, but if you fill up at La Rochelle before leaving you should be OK.
And petrol runs out last at motorway service stations, as people avoid buying there because it's so much more expensive.
Opérations escargots have been threatened, but not carried out much as yet.

lots of operation escargot here in bordeaux. Ditto panic buying. can't fill my monospace for under a 100 e now!

Aha, the snails are in the West, then.
The revolutionary-spirited marseillais should catch up soon, then, as they never like to miss out on causing mayhem.

(ggg: have e-mailed you...)

No 'operations escargot' around here (between Nice and Monaco) but then again, our roads are single-lane for the most part. Also, there are no gas stations on the highway from the Italian border to Cannes.

Filled up my tank for EUR 106 yesterday, which wasn't a happy moment.

I guess I'm living a sheltered life here (and not watching much French news) but could someone explain what the fuel shortages in the rest of France are about?

'escargots'

Lorry drivers, taxi drivers, ambulance drivers and farmers (and other professionals who need their vehicles to work) want the gvmt to intervene so that they are not hit so hard by rising fuel prices. They want a professional rate on fuel, with reduced taxes, etc., as they claim the gvmt takes a huge whack and could cut taxes for professionals without it affecting public coffers (not sure how, TBH...).

500 haulage companies have gone out of business since Jan, I think.

So the drivers block refineries/depots, thus preventing petrol from being delivered to stations. People hear about it, rush to fill their tanks, waste petrol queuing for hours at the petrol stations, and voilà: no diesel left for dopey old AA.

Gvmt intervened to soften the blow for the fishermen (lots of hassle up here last week with the ports blockaded) so I guess they feel they are in with a chance.

Wasn't Sarkozy suggesting to decrease gov tax on gas himself?