PARIS - (Xinhua) The strike continued at the refineries of Total Energies and ExxonMobil, the General Confederation of Labor said Saturday, leading to a fuel panic in the country.

According to the Ministry of Energy Transition, 20.7 percent of service stations experienced difficulties with at least one product on Saturday, compared with 19 percent on Friday.

At least 70 percent of the company's workers were on strike on Saturday, said Christopher Aubert, Exxon Mobil General Union Labor Delegate.

For his part, trade union leader Pedro Afonso stated that all the striking workers were at the Total Energies refinery located in Vizin, near the city of León, on Saturday.

The strikers' actions led to a drop in fuel supplies, which sparked fear among the French of fuel shortages as many Total service stations in the country were closed.

"The measures we have taken, including allowing heavy goods vehicles that refuel stations to run on weekends, have made it possible to stabilize the situation at the national level," Energy Transition Minister Agnès Bagnier-Ronacher told French media on Saturday.

Several French politicians, including President Emmanuel Macron, on Friday called for dialogue and responsibility between the Total Energy strikers and the company.

The strike began on September 27, which forced the company to start temporarily closing the largest refinery in the country, located in the Normandy region, from September 28.