US Lukoil Gas Station Owners Left in Limbo Over Russia Sanctions

On a recent sunny afternoon in New Jersey, dozens of gas station franchise owners filed into a Holiday Inn conference room to discuss some big geopolitical developments.

The Trump administration just weeks earlier had announced sanctions on two Russian oil giants, the latest measures designed to clamp down on Moscow’s crude sales and deprive the Kremlin of revenue it needs to wage its ongoing war in Ukraine.

Yet the sanctions on one of those firms, Lukoil PJSC, isn’t just being felt in Moscow or the flashier international assets it holds, including an Iraqi oil field and a Bulgarian refinery. ...