What happened

From 7 March 2023, CGT-led strikes and blockades against the government's pension reform disrupted French refineries, fuel depots and ports nationwide, following earlier nationwide protest days beginning 19 January. TotalEnergies halted fuel production at its roughly 247,000 bbl/d Gonfreville refinery in Normandy, France's largest, from 17 March, while ExxonMobil's roughly 240,000 bbl/d Gravenchon refinery had a crude unit halted by an associated port strike with a second unit expected to follow; Petroineos' Lavera refinery began halting units from 20 March. Together Gonfreville and Gravenchon represented about 42% of national refining capacity. The proportion of French petrol stations reporting shortages rose from about 6% on 15 March to roughly 18% on 22 March, with shortages concentrated in the northwest and south of the country and several southern departments imposing purchase limits. The government requisitioned striking workers at the Fos-sur-Mer refinery near Marseille, forcing some back to work in an order the relevant union challenged as unlawful, and announced further rolling 48-hour requisition orders on 22 March; authorities also requisitioned eleven Marseille petrol stations for priority-vehicle use only and directed Paris airports to carry maximum operational fuel reserves to reduce refuelling needs. Unions warned that shortages would worsen in the following days, and further nationwide strike action was called for 23 March, with the dispute continuing into subsequent weeks beyond the period covered by this record. High regional product stocks in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub (reported around 46 million barrels in late February) were credited with limiting the wider market and price impact despite the domestic disruption. No casualties, physical damage or spills were reported; this is documented as a major labour-driven disruption to critical fuel infrastructure, distinct from the earlier pay-related refinery strikes of October 2022 recorded elsewhere in this dataset.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.