Paris- French oil major Total SA said Wednesday that a strike has begun affecting output at its 155,000-barrels-a-day refinery in Provence, southern France, after a trade union called for a nationwide walkout.

The strike is disrupting Total”s production of refined products at a time when the French company, Europe”s largest refiner, has committed to ship more gasoline to the

United States to help offset outages caused by Hurricane Katrina, The Associated Press reported.