Barbara Pompili called on the French on Thursday “not to rush” to service stations in the event of an embargo on Russian oil, assuring that France was “quiet for many months” and that the government would continue to “protect » consumers financially.
Months to see coming
“Today we have no supply problem in France, we are working to have other suppliers and we have reserves (…) so I say to our fellow citizens: no need to rush to petrol stations, there is what it takes, ”said the Minister for Ecological Transition on franceinfo.
“We are quiet for many months”, she assured, evoking however for diesel “a few small questions of rerouting storage which can take a little time”.
An embargo by the end of 2022
The European Commission on Wednesday proposed, as part of a new sanctions package against Moscow due to the war in Ukraine, a gradual ban on Russian oil imports by the end of 2022.
Such an embargo “necessarily can have consequences”, noted the minister, in particular on the price of fuel. But “these consequences will be mitigated as we have been doing for months for the French”.
Asked about the end scheduled for July 31 of the 15 centimes per liter discount device at the pump, she reiterated that the government was working on a replacement system, adding that it could be extended if necessary. “If we see that we need to extend for lots of reasons, we will extend. In any case, we will not leave our fellow citizens without a solution, ”assured Barbara Pompili.