The owners of almost 30 Lukoil PJSC filling stations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey can proceed with a lawsuit accusing the Russian oil giant of overcharging franchisees. Lukoil’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit was rejected by New Jersey state court Judge Douglas H. Hurd in Trenton on Friday. The judge didn’t give any reasons for his ruling in a brief order. The suit followed US sanctions that dried up several of the oil company’s international revenue streams while relentless Ukrainian drone strikes cripple operations at home.
Twenty franchisees in New Jersey and another nine in Pennsylvania alleged that Lukoil is charging excessively high prices for gasoline to offset revenue lost as a result of sanctions. The station owners have collectively suffered millions of dollars in losses stemming from Lukoil’s “economic coercion,” according to the complaint filed in April. On top of overcharging, the station owners said they were forced to operate during “demonstrably unprofitable” hours, billed without warning for superfluous maintenance work, and denied funds for essential repairs.
At a hearing earlier Friday, Lukoil’s attorney argued that the occasional disputes between the company and franchisees do not amount to “unreasonable performance standards.” Lukoil didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing