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Notre-Dame-De-Gravenchon - A strike squeezing French oil refineries spread on Tuesday to facilities owned by ExxonMobil, raising the pressure on Total and the government to ward off gas shortages.
Workers at an ExxonMobil-owned Esso depot joined in the walkout on Tuesday to support their Total colleagues, who have been striking since last week over plans to close a plant in northern France.
The Esso depot in Port Jerome, on the English Channel, was closed before dawn for lack of workers, CGT union organiser Laurent Delaunay said. Workers at an Esso refinery in neighbouring Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon - France's second-largest refinery - were set to walk out later on Tuesday.
Together, Total and Esso refineries account for about 70% of France's refining capacity.
A prolonged strike and serious gas shortages could be bruising for French President Nicolas Sarkozy's government as it faces regional elections in less than three weeks. The refinery blockages come amid other acts of unrest among French workers, including an air traffic controllers' strike canceling hundreds of flights on Tuesday.
Sarkozy summoned Total CEO Christophe de Margerie for talks on the refinery strike on Tuesday.
Total refineries losing €100m a month
Total, France's largest company by market capitalisation, is meeting with unions for new negotiations on Tuesday at the company's headquarters in La Defense, a business district west of Paris.
The first signs of shortages were beginning to appear. On Tuesday, a Carrefour service station in Gonfreville, home to France's largest oil refinery, was out of diesel fuel.
Total said more than 100 of the 2 000 Total and Elf gas stations in France had run out of at least one type of gasoline.
Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo insisted that "at this point, there is no risk" of widespread shortage. Speaking on Europe-1 radio, he said France has about 10 days worth of reserves, and called for calm.
Workers at all six of Total SA's French refineries and at six of its 31 fuel depots have been on strike for five days over the uncertain future of a plant in Dunkirk.
Total says it is preparing new uses for the Dunkirk site and that its activities have been stopped since September because of a drop in consumption of petroleum products manufactured there. The CGT union, which represents a majority of workers in the conflict, insists that Total's Dunkirk refinery must continue to run as it has in the past.
Total's refineries are losing €100m a month, spokesperson Michael Crochet-Vourey said.
Workers at France's fourth-largest refinery, British-owned chemicals company INEOS, also voted on Monday to join the strike. Two more refineries, owned by Switzerland's Petroplus, are scheduled to take a strike vote on Wednesday.
Total shares have so far been little affected by the strikes, however. Shares were down about 0.5% to €42.46 in midday Paris trading.
- AP