By Christos Zampounis

When my family and I moved from the detached house on Elia Street to the newly built apartment building on Venizelos Street in Veroia, I was too young to realize the dangers of hosting a petrol station right next to the entrance of the building. Over time the legislation was tightened up, although those petrol stations that had an earlier licence remained in place. It is a miracle that we have not suffered any casualties from the fires that could potentially occur. This short introduction would not have much meaning if it were not linked to the announcement by the French giant Total Energies of the transfer to the Canadian Couche-Tard Group of 1 600 service stations in Europe. The European Parliament’s vote last month on a law banning the sale of petrol cars in 2035 is considered to be the main reason for this decision.

In a statement, the company explains that electric cars will be powered mainly at home or at work, so petrol stations will almost disappear in the future. It is interesting at this point, to point out that Total Energies is one of the 6 big players in Energy worldwide, with a turnover of 263.3 billion dollars in 2022 and 100,000 employees. Its active participation in the natural gas exploration in Cyprus in Block 6 at 50% and in Blocks 2, 3, 8, 9 and 11 with smaller percentages, sets the tone of the French involvement in the area, as was the case with the passage of the aircraft carrier “Charles de Gaulle” when the Turks attempted to enter the area. Instead, they withdrew from the two plots in Western and Southwestern Crete, although their presence in Greece is mainly focused on Renewable Energy Sources.