* European refiners seeking to exit struggling sector (Recasts adding detail)
By Valerie Parent and Marie Maitre
PARIS, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Workers at French refineries debated going on strike, torn on Wednesday between anger over moves to restructure the sector and memories of last year's month-long stoppage that disrupted global flows of oil but left unions drained and divided.
Employees at eight of France's 10 operating refineries held meetings to discuss taking industrial action after the decision by commodity chemicals maker Lyondellbasell to shut its Berre L'Etang refinery after failing to find a buyer.
Workers at Total's 230,000 barrels-per-day Donges refinery voted to reduce production to a minimum level for 24 hours, a representative at France's powerful CGT trade union told Reuters. Total operates five refineries in France.
But staff meeting at Total's plants of Gonfreville, La Mede, Feyzin and Grandpuits did not decide on action, according to local union representatives contacted by telephone. They all said discussions would continue in coming days.
"We are calling for mobilisation. We are stepping up the pressure but we are still at a stage of information," said a CGT representative at the Petroplus-owned refinery of Petit Couronne near Rouen.
Brent crude oil prices LCOc1 were little changed, shedding 0.07 percent at $107.07 by 1040 GMT, with traders paying close attention to developments in France.
"I think the market is concerned," said one trader in London, but two refined product brokers said their clients were not worried "at this early stage."
"A possible impact hinges on the duration and spreading of the strike action," said Carsten Fritsch at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
"A multi-week long nationwide strike could lead to local supply bottlenecks and push European product prices up. On the other hand, it could ease the supply situation in the European crude market."
The European refining sector has been struggling for years due to poor margins and weak demand for fuel products, prompting Total to shut its Dunkirk refinery at the start of 2010 and Petroplus to end refining at its Reichstett plant in eastern France in May 2011.
French refinery workers blocked production for a month in October 2010 amid nationwide protests over wider pension reform and underlying concern about the future of the industry in France.
The marathon strike disrupted global flows of crude oil and liquid fuels and cost the French oil sector an estimated 230 million euros ($313.6 million), further weakening an industry that has come under pressure from new rivals in the Middle East and Asia.
It also left many striking workers bitter as union leaders appeared unable to obtain guarantees from European refiners that they would continue their activity in France.
Total, which has tried to sell its Lindsey refinery in Britain for nearly two years, has summoned a group works council on Oct. 10 to unveil a project to merge its refining and chemical businesses, fanning new restructuring worries among workers.
Workers at the Ineos Lavera plant were due to hold a general meeting at midday, a CGT representative said, adding discussions would cover both recent developments at Berre L'Etang and the general conditions of the industry in France.
"This is not just solidarity with LyondellBasell. We are all concerned," the representative said.
A CFDT union representative at Exxon Mobil's Fos-Sur-Mer refinery said there was no workers meeting planned today in the plant located on the outskirts of Marseilles.
"We are just pondering. So far it doesn't look like we have momentum," the representative told Reuters, adding however that worries about job losses were more acute in the industry now than they were a year ago. ($1 = 0.733 Euros) (Additional reporting by Sybille de la Hamaide in Paris, and Simon Falush, Claire Milhench and Zaida Espana Morales in London; Editing by Anthony Barker)
