A surplus of ships available for hire in the U.S. Gulf and fewer oil product cargoes due to declining output from French refineries affected by strikes have weighed on freight rates for tankers, senior analyst Michael Webber wrote in the Wells Fargo Shipping Weekly today.

French oil major Total has announced that its operations near the port of Le Havre will remain impacted by strikes until June 6. At the Total Donges terminal, discharging/loading operations are suspended until further notice, according to sources. At Fos/Lavera, the strike continues to affect oil product terminals at the ports. Terminal operator Fluxel remained on strike up until yesterday evening, while local tugboat operators are striking until June 3, according to local sources.

“French refinery strikes have failed to result in ramping U.S. Gulf-Europe distillate volumes, with product tanker rates moving lower in the Atlantic Basin,” Webber wrote in the report. “Benchmark Medium Range oil product tanker rates fell to $7,000/day for Europe-U.S. gasoline trades (from $9,800/day last week), as reduced European refining runs adversely impacted the cross-Atlantic gasoline arbitrage. A large position list in the U.S. Gulf also pressured rates U.S.-Europe rates to $5,800/day, from $7,000/day last week.”

Rates for Medium Range oil tankers hauling 38,000 metric tons of refined oil products such as ultra-low-sulfur diesel to Amsterdam from Houston fell almost 6% over the last week to $13.00/metric ton today, according to data from the London-based Baltic Exchange.