Drivers who pull in to Lukoil gas stations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey may be in for a bit of a shock as they see $9.99-a-gallon gas prices.
The owners of several Lukoil gas stations are shocking drivers with their extremely high prices on Wednesday. More than 50 gas stations within New Jersey and Pennsylvania were expected to change their prices to $8 and up to $9.99 a gallon as a protest to their parent company.
Lukoil gas station owners are fed up with the company charging them costs that are higher than other company costs.Due to this, they cannot offer customers the lowest prices, so customers often go to cheaper stations, leaving the Lukoil dealers with low sales.
"We are doing this because we are dying," Khaled Kezbari, owner of three Lukoil gas stations in New Jersey told ABC. "Lukoil is charging us costs higher than the retail market. How can you compete? You cannot compete in the market like that."
In addition to the high costs, Kezbari said that Lukoil stopped providing assistance to upkeep their business so rent and taxes comes right out of the pockets of owners.
While the gas stations are displaying the outrageous price, most are not actually customer $10 per gallon. It is just part of the 24 hour protest as gas station owners hope to send a message to the Lukoil company. Owners have complained about the costs on numerous occasions, but Lukoil refuses to lower them. This has driven several Lukoil dealers out of business.
"It would be ridiculous if they charged that amount. We are trying to send a message to Lukoil so they know what our feelings are," Kezbari told ABC.
One Pennsylvania Lukoil gas station owner is taking the protest one step further.
"We don't want to sell any gas today," Arun Joseph told Mainline Media News. "We are asking our regular customers not to buy gas from us today because we are protesting. "
Joseph is hoping that the decrease in sales sends a real message to Lukoil so that he'll eventually be able to offer fair prices to his customers.
Station owners are handing out flyers to their customers that explain the protest and provides customers with a phone number, urgins them to call and complain to Lukoil's corporate offices.
Regular customers are showing support but visitors seem a bit confused and are scared off by the signs that post the unusually high gas prices.
Average gas prices in New Jersey are currently at $3.79 per gallon, but many dealers charge up to 20 cents less than the average depending on where the get their gas and so that they remain at the top of the competition.
Lukoil isa Russian oil producer. The company started servicing the United States in 2003 and now has over 500 gas stations in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
