The French Senate, in a 177-153 vote, approved a bill Friday to raise the retirement age in the country from 60 to 62. President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative government, keen to pass the measure and quell protests, used a procedure that cut debate and the voting process short.

Just hours prior to the vote, riot police forced an oil refinery at Grandpuits, 50 miles east of Paris, to reopen. The prime minister said it would take several more days to end gasoline shortages.

The Senate debate lasted three weeks. Mostly socialist legislators submitted 1,237 amendments, but Sarkozy’s conservative party and its allies dismissed nearly all of them. The text now goes to a committee of senators and lower house lawmakers Monday who will try to compromise on differences before returning the bill to both houses for a final vote next week.

The Interior Ministry said the operation at the Grandpuits fuel refinery succeeded “without incident,” but the CGT union claimed three workers were injured. As of Friday, about 20 percent of France’s service stations were still empty, down from 40 percent a few days ago.

Sarkozy says the reform is necessary for future generations to receive pensions. French unions claim the working class will be unfairly punished.

The head of the national petroleum industry body, Jean-Louis Schilansky, said it is struggling to import fuel to make up for the shortfall. Strikers are also blockading tankers from docking and unloading at two key oil terminals, in Le Havre and Marseille.

Global Equities’ head economist Marc Touati said gas shortages and other disruptions could lower economic growth by 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points.

Unions announced two more days of protest nationwide, next week and the week after.

Friday in Lyon, police again used tear gas and water cannons against rioting youths. “It is not troublemakers who will have the last word in a democracy,” Sarkozy told officials in central France, promising to find and punish rioters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.