U.S. Lukoil franchisees hit by sanctions as company seeks buyer

About 200 American owners of Lukoil-branded gas stations in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania say they have been hurt by U.S. sanctions on the Russian oil company, and they said they were hopeful on Jan. 30, 2026 after Lukoil announced talks to sell almost all its foreign assets, including discussions with the Carlyle Group.

The station owners told The New York Times that customer traffic fell and that credit card processing problems and frozen bank accounts left some businesses struggling to pay vendors and staff. Tarun Patel, who operates a Lukoil station in eastern Pennsylvania, said, “We are being dragged through this international conflict for no reason.” The Treasury Department placed sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft in October, and Secretary Scott Bessent called the companies part of “the Kremlin’s war machine.” The Treasury rejected an earlier sale of Lukoil’s international operations, told the company it must find a new buyer by Feb.

28 or face penalties such as account freezes, and said it would “evaluate any proposed sale of Lukoil assets on factors that support U.S.

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