France fuel crisis: one in ten service stations out of stock; depot blockaded in south

Prices for several fuel types across France remain at all-time highs as fears of shortages and protesters blockading a major depot in southern France only add to concerns. 

Petrol prices have gone up for the sixth consecutive week while the cost of diesel is nearing the record high it reached in April following the outbreak of the US war with Iran. 

At the same time, there are concerns about fuel running out, with latest government figures showing that 10% of service stations are out of stock of at least one fuel type. 

Petrol (carburant) prices continue to climb, with the average per-litre cost of SP95-E10 reaching €2.11 on Friday (September 11), government figures published yesterday revealed.

This was +2.3c per litre higher than the previous Friday and marks the sixth consecutive week of price increases.

SP95-E5, another type of petrol, was also up +2.7c per litre compared to the week before, reaching €2.17 on average – another all-time record.

Diesel (gazole) sat at €2.29, a +3.4c increase and nearing the all-time record of €2.38 per litre set in April 2026. It is worth noting that diesel is the most common fuel in France, with these price rises having more of an impact on drivers.

These average costs include stations managed by TotalEnergies, where a fuel cap of €1.99 per litre of petrol and €2.25 per litre of diesel remains in place, meaning some stations have prices considerably higher.

It is worth noting that these official figures are released based on information from the previous week – unofficial site Carbu.com, tracking live prices, states that per-litre costs of petrol have decreased slightly at the start of this week. 

However, there are no guarantees that prices will stabilise in the current weeks.

Claims of prices reaching €3 per litre in the coming weeks are unrealistic, said Philippe Casbas, president of Ufip Énergies et Mobilités. However, if tensions in the Middle East continue and supplies are further strained, drivers may eventually face such costs. 

One in ten stations out of stock

Equally concerning is the risk of fuel shortages, with a large proportion of service stations continuing to report they are out of stock of at least one fuel type. 

A 9am update today on the Government website prix-carburant states that 10% of service stations are out of stock of at least one fuel type today. In the Pays de la Loire, this rises to 13%, and in Grand Est 14% are facing shortages.

This represents an ongoing slight downward trend however with government figures from yesterday, 14 September, showing 11% shortages nationwide and figures for Sunday, 13 September, at 12%.   

Many of these shortages apply to TotalEnergies stations, which have been overwhelmed by drivers looking for the lowest prices. 

The shortages come despite driver habits changing, with people avoiding many non-essential journeys or carpooling to cut costs.

As a result fuel consumption was down -6.6% in August – -9.2% for diesel, -2% for petrol. 

This drop in driving could benefit people financially with around a fifth of households in France spending a month of their annual income on fuel. 

However, any savings could be offset by higher costs at the pump, as stations compensate for the loss in sales volume by upping prices. 

Many drivers are also looking elsewhere for cheaper fuel, driving to neighbouring countries, including Italy, Spain, and Luxembourg to fill up.  

In Andorra, average prices of €1.66 per litre of diesel and €1.63 for SP95 are so attractive to the French that some drive up to 250km to the microstate to fill up their tank. 

Fuel in Andorra is significantly cheaper because government taxes on fuel are far lower, at around 4.5% – in comparison, more than half of the total cost of fuel in France is due to taxes. 

Middle East tensions continue, domestic protests

The increase in costs even as drivers reduce vehicle use also points towards a continued strain on fuel supplies in France from the tensions in the Middle East and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway responsible for transporting up to a fifth of crude oil and natural gas supplies.

As available supplies remain scarce and raw material costs continue to climb, these additional prices are passed onto consumers directly. 

Indeed, France imports the majority of its diesel (it has a relatively small domestic refining capacity), which initially led to prices for the fuel soaring earlier in the year even as petrol prices remained steady. 

However, even though France refines much of its domestically-consumed petrol at national refineries, the increasing cost of crude oil is also impacting costs, as is market uncertainty. 

Anger for some has reached boiling point, with fishers blockading the southern Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône) fuel depot this morning. 

Protesters are blockading the site with around fifty trucks to denounce high costs and demand a meeting with Fisheries Minister Catherine Chabaud. 

It comes following fisher protests on Monday in Sète (Hérault) and Port-Vendres (Pyrénées-Orientales). 

The fishing industry is one of the sectors to see government aid packages over fuel prices continue, alongside the agriculture and construction sectors (the logistics sector is being dropped from the scheme). 

The government remains adamant that it will not provide any further assistance in the way of fuel price caps or cutting fuel taxes, but has extended its €100 fuel aid scheme until the end of September.