San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted 8-2 on June 8th to send the local divorcement ordinance back to committee. A supporter of the ordinance said the vote makes passage unlikely.

According to Tom Ammiano, one of the two supervisors who voted in favor of the ordinance, lobbying by Chevron killed the ordinance. Michael Yaki, the supervisor who proposed the ordinance said Chevron told Board Members that it would move its headquarters and its 1,377 employees out San Francisco if the ordinance passed.

Californians pay an average of 10-20 cents more for gasoline than the rest of the U.S. Legislation addressing this issue has consistently failed due to the political power of the oil industry. California citizens and small business operators suffer the consequences.

Crude oil prices fell to $11.56 a barrel on Monday, June 15th, the lowest price in twelve years and 49% below last October.

Even with the drop in crude, the average retail price of gasoline nationally increased 1/3 of a cent in the last two weeks. The national average for self serve regular unleaded was $1.066 on June 15th. In California the average price for self serve regular, as of June 15th, was $1.214. This is nearly fifteen cents above the national average.

ASM testing for HC and CO emission began June 8th. As of that date all testing in Enhanced Areas must be done on a certified BAR-97 EIS unit with installed dynamometer.

Smog Check stations are reminded that all-wheel-drive, and full-time traction control vehicles, cannot be tested on a single axle dynamometer.

Convenience Store News (May 25, 1998) reports national average C-Store products sales. In 1997, 73% of the nation's C-Stores sold gasoline, with 94% of all new C-Stores selling gas. The average gasoline margin is $13.4 cpg. 42% of C-Stores sell gas under the flag of a major oil company. Motor fuel sales per store averaged 84,500 gallons per month through an average of 8.5 fueling positions, up from 73,000 gallons and 6.8 fueling positions in 1993.

Average profit margin (percentage) on other items:

Other service offered (percentage of stores offering):

Method of payment is predominately cash at 64.9%, followed by credit card at 19.6%, checks at 8.2%, and debit cards at 7.9%.

Express Oil Change has moved into the 10th spot in the U.S. fast-lube/oil changers market. Express purchased Atlanta-based Tuneco and is reported to be shopping for additional expansion opportunities in the Southeast market.