Getting up earlier, coming home later, queuing for a long time, the daily life of motorists has been complicated in recent days. Around Lyon, refueling is a journey strewn with disappointment. Reportage.
From early morning, they are there, on the lookout, full of hope. In Vénissieux, next to a shopping center, the pump is not yet open. But already, cars form a queue. This Wednesday, October 12 at dawn, there is no overflow but motorists do not hide their annoyance.
Farid is upset. When at last he can grab the gas gun, he sees that the tank is empty. “There is no more diesel and I am going to work, I will do at least 15 to 17 km. I live in Vénissieux. I went to Carrefour, the station was closed and I have to fill up at the less so I can commute to work.”
If some stations warn their customers by indicating the missing fuels, this is not the case everywhere. Many have waited, reached the pump but will not be able to fill their tank.
Sporty look and braids plastered on the skull, a driver gets out of her car. “It’s been going on for a week now she explains. We get up early in the morning and we can’t find gasoline. No matter how much we make stations around the house, there is nothing. It happened to me twice. We finally arrive at the pump, but it’s empty. We leave and we waited half an hour for nothing. I think that there we still have to do something for the professionals, it’s our livelihood. If we don’t have fuel, then we can’t work.”
False joy also in another station located on the Lyon ring road, a motorist puts the gun down, visibly irritated. “I thought I might fill up and, in fact, there’s no petrol: it’s out of service. There’s no diesel, so it’s going to be a real hassle to get around to be able to go to work. While sitting behind his steering wheel, he continues: “I got up at 5 a.m. just to find diesel and there is no more diesel. I tried on the other pump, there is only petrol.“
In this general galley, there are those who have to go to work and those who would like to return home. A woman, pump in hand, belongs to the second category, she walks slightly around the back of her vehicle, tired following working at night. “I have a stomach ache. I finished at 5:45 a.m. but it’s 7:30 a.m. and I haven’t gone home, I’m tired, but hey, there’s no choice. To go to work, we have to fill up the gas, otherwise we stay at home.“
In a hurry, a parka on his back, a taxi driver gets impatient. “It’s very complicated, I don’t know how I’m going to do it, he said. I woke up at 4am, I have a race and I said to myself that maybe in the big signs, there was a possibility of finding gasoline, but there is not. In the small stations, there is nothing at all, it will be the rush from 8am, 9am. I have half a full tank left to finish the day. I try to anticipate as much as possible but this is complicated. I think that today and tomorrow it will be very complicated for everyone, especially for us transport professionals. We’re supposed to get priority, but nobody’s letting us through. We queue and there I’m afraid of not being able to work tomorrow, of not finishing the week.“
The conflict that is blocking the refineries is likely to last.
