Fuel supply to Paris airports cut amid pension strikes
Baku, October 15 (AZERTAC). Fuel supplies to Paris` main airports through a major pipeline have been cut off amid strikes over pension reforms.
The company that operates the pipeline told French media that the capital`s main airport, Charles de Gaulle, could run out of fuel as early as next week.
There are fears of fuel shortages as all of France`s 12 oil refineries have been hit by strikes, and many oil depots remain blockaded.
Unions are opposed to government plans to raise the retirement age.
Trapil, the firm that operates the pipeline to Paris` airports, said supplies had been cut off on Friday.
A company spokesman told AFP news agency: "Orly airport has stocks for 17 days, and Roissy [Charles de Gaulle] for at least the weekend."
A spokesman for Aeroports de Paris, the authority that operates both airports, told Reuters news agency it was "not at all worried about stocks" - but did not say how long these would last.
In recent days government officials have tried to play down fears of petrol shortages, insisting that France has enough to see out the industrial action.
However, panic buying has broken out in some areas, putting supplies under greater strain.
Earlier on Friday, riot police reopened oil deports that had been blockaded in Fos-sur-Mer in the south, Cournon in central France, and Lespinasse and Bassens in the south-west, AFP reports.
But strikers threw up fresh pickets in at least five fuel depots - at Caen and Ouistreham in the north, Le Mans and Vern-sur-Seiche in the north-west, and La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast.
French Junior Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau told reporters: "We cannot afford petrol shortages. One must bear in mind those of us who need transport."
On Thursday, France`s petrol distributors urged the government to release emergency fuel stocks, warning that only 10 days` fuel was left.
Demand at petrol pumps has surged by 50% in the past two days.
In the port of Marseille, more than 70 ships carrying crude for refining are stranded as dockers continue their rolling strike.
The protests erupted after centre-right President Nicolas Sarkozy announced plans to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, and from 65 to 67 for a full state pension.
More than a million people took to the streets in the latest national protest on Tuesday.
France`s main unions have since stepped up their action, calling for the fifth in a series of strikes and street protests on 19 October.
Students, who joined Tuesday`s demonstrations in large numbers, held further protests on Friday. More than 300 secondary schools across France - about one in 15 - remain affected by strikes and blockades.
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