Filling your car with gas is one of those daily routine things that most people don’t think about. While a small portion of drivers make an effort to research the various grades of gasoline and which brands offer them, many others just stop at whatever gas station has the lowest price or is the most convenient to visit.
Unless they are deep in the science of gasoline or have long-term brand loyalty, the name on the pumps means very little, let alone the country a brand comes from. That’s why many Americans may not be aware that one of Russia’s largest oil companies has a sizable retail presence in certain parts of the country.
Lukoil is Russia’s second largest oil company and was founded at the end of the Soviet Union. Its large, global footprint currently includes approximately 200 gas stations operating in the Northeastern United States. However, the days of US Lukoil stations being owned by Russians are likely coming to an end, with the company announcing plans to sell its international operations to a US investment group.
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While Russia’s global status as a major petroleum exporter is well known, actual Russian-owned gasoline retailers are less common outside of Russia itself, and especially in America. And even in the United States, you probably have not come across a Lukoil station unless you happen to live in New York, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania, where the vast majority of these stations are located.
Lukoil was established as a Russian state oil company in 1991, just before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the company came under private ownership in 1993. Lukoil established its American retail presence in 2000, when it acquired Getty Oil and its franchised gas stations in the Northeast. Beyond these American retail stations, Lukoil’s international operations also include subsidiaries in approximately 30 countries around the world, including the Middle East, Europe and South America.
Interestingly, Lukoil is not the only chain of gas stations in the United States that is owned by a country that has a rocky relationship with America from the beginning of 2026. Citgo, which has an even larger presence in the United States, has actually been indirectly owned by Venezuela for decades. Both gasoline brands have come under legal and diplomatic pressure from the US government.
In normal times, the country of origin of a petrol brand may not be a big deal. However, the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine in 2022 led to broad global sanctions against Russia and Russian-owned companies that had strategic and economic impacts around the world and even affected Russia’s joint space operations.