The rise in petrol pump prices at French service stations are unjustified, despite current supply problems, and the government is in contact with the consumer protection watchdog body over this, said French energy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher.

"We will not allow for prices to be elevated artificially," she wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

TotalEnergies also reiterated it would be willing to respond favourably to trade union demands for talks over wages, provided that blockades of fuel depots were lifted. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)