Fri 12 Dec 2008, 08:08 GMT

ExxonMobil cuts production at Fos


Oil major cuts runs as port workers' strike enters second week.



Oil major and bunker supplier ExxonMobil has said that it has cut production runs at its 119,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Fos-sur-Mer Refinery, Reuters reports.

The decision comes as the strike at the port of Marseilles’ Fos and Lavera oil terminals moves into a second week with no indication that terminal staff are ready to return to work.

The industrial action is related to the application of a new law on French port operations. Talks between the Confederation Generale du Travail, the main port workers’ union, and port authority management have reached a standstill. Port workers, meanwhile, have halted all commercial operations at Marseille's Fos-Lavera oil terminal since last Thursday.

Other companies to operate refineries in the Mediterrean are Total SA and Ineos Group Holdings Plc..

Total sources bunker fuel from its 157,000 bpd La Mede plant, which is conveniently located near the main bunkering centres of Fos, Lavera and Marseilles.

Ineos's Lavera refinery is the largest in the region with an oil-processing capacity of 218,000 barrels per day.


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