Hundreds of gas stations in France run out of fuel due to panic buying caused by price controls.

After the Middle East war caused a global supply interruption and prompted the introduction of fuel price caps, drivers flocked to gas stations, leading to fuel shortages at hundreds of stations in France. The French Ministry of Energy said in a statement on Wednesday that out of around 900 stations where at least one type of fuel was sold out, 700 belonged to the TOTAL Group. The statement indicated that this situation was caused by logistical issues, not domestic supply shortages. On Tuesday, TOTAL extended the fuel price cap at its gas stations in mainland France until April 7. French government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said that less than 10% of gas stations in France experienced varying degrees of shortages, with the majority being due to consumer rush to refuel following TOTAL's implementation of the price cap. TOTAL stated in a release that since announcing the price ceiling in mid-March, there has been a significant increase in customer traffic, and local areas may experience supply tensions, especially in diesel fuel.