“No worries”: the government affirms that “there is no risk of shortage” of fuel “for the weeks to come”

It will still be possible to drive on the roads in May. While the war in Iran began two months ago and fuel prices have increased significantly since the end of February, “there is no risk of a shortage of gasoline, diesel, kerosene in the weeks to come,” assured government spokesperson Maud Bregeon on France Info this Tuesday, April 28.

“There is no risk of shortage as we speak,” insisted the minister, recalling that France has strategic stocks.

A few minutes earlier on France Inter, it was his colleague Roland Lescure, Minister of the Economy, who assured that there was “no concern” for the supply of hydrocarbons for the month of May.

“We had no shortage in April” and “I have no concerns for the month of May either,” said the minister, while TotalEnergies boss Patrick Pouyanné estimated on Friday that if the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz continued for “another two or three months”, France would enter “an era of energy shortage”.

“If we ever faced import challenges (…) we have three months of strategic stocks” in advance, continued Roland Lescure, adding that the government also planned to increase refining. Strategic stocks are estimated at “100 million barrels, we have released less than 2%,” explained Maud Bregeon.

Macron wants to be reassuring

In addition, the two ministers announced that the government would receive the airlines “in the coming days” “to take stock of preparations for the summer”. Several of them, such as Ryanair or Transavia, have announced that they are canceling flights due to the increase in fuel costs.

The day after the declarations of the president of TotalEnergies, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, assured Saturday that to date, “the situation does not make us envisage any shortage”, but that “the worst thing, in these moments when there are tensions, geopolitical uncertainty, is that these tensions are increased by panic behavior”.

“And very often, the shortage is created by these panic behaviors themselves,” he said during a press conference.

According to Roland Lescure, Patrick Pouyanné “is no longer quite in his role when he worries about the threat of possible shortages”. “I don’t know, and neither does he, what will happen in two or three months,” he added.