That is a great synopsis of the fuel situation. One item that I do not remember seeing is the fact that there are a number of localities that have special specifications for the properties of the gasoline allowed to be sold in their area. This causes the fuel to these places to be more costly to produce. As a result these special and/or bizare fuel blends are part of the "Why do we have to pay so much more than the folks over in....". If the special fuel is not priced higher at the pump then the refiner or retailer has to eat the difference.

Thankfully these regional differences appear to be rarer in the diesel marketing picture, where taxes and delivery costs seem to be the major portion of the variance in pricing.

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1961 190Db retired
1968 220D/8 325,000
1983 300D 164,150