By
The Associated Press
PARIS - Gas stations in regions of France ran dry and local governments began rationing gasoline yesterday as French truckers expanded a blockade of oil refineries and fuel depots to press for lower taxes.
Motorists faced long lines at the pump as nationwide protests over soaring fuel prices entered a second day. Union representatives resumed talks with Transport Ministry officials in search of a compromise.
Negotiators have demanded a 20 percent cut in fuel taxes. In a late-night negotiating session Monday, the government agreed to a cut of 10 percent.
Daniel Chevalier, president of the UNOSTRA union, yesterday called the government's initial concessions "completely insufficient."
In France, which has the second highest fuel prices in the European Union after Britain, unleaded gasoline costs $3.70 per gallon, of which about 75 percent is tax. Diesel fuel in France costs $2.84 per gallon, compared to a current average of $1.58 per gallon in the United States.
Truckers - joined by farmers, ambulance drivers and taxi drivers - blockaded more than 85 oil refineries and fuel depots around the country yesterday.
About 15 barges partially blocked the Seine River in Paris and barge operators said they plan to completely block river traffic today.
Gas pumps around the country were covered with "out of order" signs. Up to 80 percent of TotalFinaElf's 5,500 gas stations around France had run out of gas or faced dwindling stocks, said Elisabeth de Beaumont, a spokeswoman for the French oil and gas group.
Dwindling supplies forced officials in many regions to reserve gas stations for emergency and police vehicles. In the Brittany region of western France, authorities took over 67 gas stations.
About half the gas stations in the southern port city of Marseille ran dry by yesterday evening, and local officials closed off 15 stations for official use only. Officials in several areas were rationing gas to motorists.
Some drivers crossed into Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and Spain to fill their tanks.
The truckers' blockade in France affected high-speed TGV trains in southwestern parts of the country when protesters, including farmers and ambulance drivers, burned tires and straw on the rail lines.
In the Mediterranean city of Nice, truckers blocked vehicles from entering the international airport yesterday. Some travelers were forced to walk with luggage from outside the airport's entrance, said an airport spokesman, Philippe Bellissent.
Bellissent said planes flying into Nice from Paris and other European points were advised to travel with twice the normal fuel load. Demonstrators on Monday had tried to block aircraft from refueling.
The protest by truckers, farmers and ambulance drivers as well as fork-lift operators and movers began early Monday. The strike took its inspiration from a strike last week by fishermen, who blocked ports for several days. The fishermen's strike ended when the Agriculture Ministry agreed to compensate them for rising fuel prices.
Unlike fishermen, farmers and taxi drivers, truck drivers receive little compensation for fuel taxes. They say the cost of diesel fuel has risen 40 percent in the past year.
