Around 17 cargoes carrying crude oil, oil products or chemical products have been floating in French waters for the past week, according to Kpler crude analyst Johannes Rauball.
"Seven of these cargoes are carrying around 7 million barrels of crude and condensate, which marks the highest level on record and represents double what we observed at the peak in October of last year," Rauball said.
Industrial action over the past three weeks has impacted every French refinery.
The walkouts differ from the strikes that took place in October, 2022 in that they are coordinated on a national level, also affecting ports and depots, said Koen Wessels, oil products analyst at Energy Aspects.
France's
crude oil stocks have fallen to 40.3 million barrels in March, according to
consultancy OilX, the lowest since the firm's records began in January, 2010.
France's
refinery intake has fallen to its lowest level since October 2022 at 764,000
barrels per day (bpd), data from consultancy OilX show.
The absence of French buying interest has increased supplies elsewhere of crude grades from the North Sea, west Africa and blends from the Caspian pipeline, according to traders.
This has weighed on prices of these crude grades as market players are forced to look elsewhere for buyers.
"It's a pretty bad situation," one trader said.
French crude oil imports from Nigeria have averaged just 30,000 bpd so far this month, compared with an average 200,000 bpd in January and February, according to Kpler.
"A vast amount of Nigeria's April loadings schedule has gone unsold," Rauball said.
Meanwhile, the Ekofisk North Sea crude grade, produced at a field in Norway where TotalEnergies has equity, relies on France for two-thirds of its export stream.
No Ekofisk cargoes have been discharged in France this month, compared with an average of 85,000 bpd in January and February, Kpler data show.
