Union strikes in France lead to 60% of refining capacity being taken off line, ExxonMobil temporarily limits supply to customers in France

A strike at ExxonMobil over pay in France has led to the company having to temporarily limit the supply of refined petroleum products to its customers in France.

The strike has forced the company to shut down three French facilities including the Port Jerome-Gravenchon oil refinery (240,000 barrels per day), the Notre Dame de Gravenchon Petrochemical site, and Fos-Sur-Mer refinery (140,000 bpd).

According to Reuters, French unions CGT and Force Ouvriere called a strike on Sept. 20 following wage negotiations with ExxonMobil related to rising inflation in Europe.

In response, a spokesperson at Exxon said, "We have temporarily put limitations in place for customers in accordance with the terms of our supply contracts. We have a supply response team in place to supply product from unaffected sources,".

The strike in the refined products sector along with unplanned maintenance has led to more than 60% of France’s refining capacity being off line. 

Along with the EcconMobil strike, workers at other refineries around France have also gone on strike on Tuesday, September 27.

According to Reuters, strike action at all five of TotalEnergies' refineries in France have stopped refining products. 

This includes TotalEnergies’ 240,000 barrel per day (bpd) Gonfreville oil refinery, the 119,000 bpd Feyzin oil refinery, the 230,000 bpd Donges refinery and La Mede biorefinery, CGT union delegate Thierry Defresne said.