Trouble over oil prices overflows from France into Britain

The giant oil company Shell has suspended distribution from one of its major British depots as demonstrators blockaded the refinery in a protest over rising fuel costs.

The action mirrors blockades in France which have have left more than half the population affected by petrol rationing.

A spokeswoman for Shell says the depot at Stanlow, at Ellesmere Port in northwest England, had been blocked by the protest action.

The move came on the fourth day of protests in France over spiralling oil prices.

Taxi drivers, farmers and ambulance drivers have joined the protests, which have brought regular life there to a standstill.

Oil prices in New York broke through the 35 US cents-a-barrel barrier despite a report that Saudi Arabia was ready to support a production increase by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/newsdaily/s173476.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 08, 2000