Receipts

The bibliography. These are the pages and files consulted while the invoices, the clock, and the Author's Note were being built. A link is a source. It is not an endorsement of the page's conclusion.

The barrel and the docks

• U.S. Energy Information Administration. Cushing, Oklahoma, weekly West Texas Intermediate.
• Energy Information Administration. Gulf Coast conventional gasoline, weekly spot.
• Energy Information Administration. Gulf Coast ultra-low-sulfur diesel, weekly spot.
• Energy Information Administration. Los Angeles reformulated gasoline, weekly spot.
• Energy Information Administration. Los Angeles ultra-low-sulfur diesel, weekly spot.
• Energy Information Administration. New York Harbor reformulated gasoline, weekly spot.
• Energy Information Administration. New York Harbor ultra-low-sulfur diesel, weekly spot.
• Energy Information Administration. Crude quality, national monthly, gravity and sulfur.
• Energy Information Administration. Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update, including the weekly retail survey and the federal and state tax table.
• Energy Information Administration. What is inside a gallon of diesel.
• AAA. Daily state averages. The station survey on the map is this file, not GasBuddy. GasBuddy does not publish a history.
• Statista, from the Energy Information Administration. Share of the national gasoline price in crude, refining, distribution and marketing, and taxes, 2020 through 2025.

Refineries, the pipe, and what a barrel becomes

• Energy Information Administration. Refinery Capacity Report. The operable plants, by state.
• Energy Information Administration. Weekly refinery utilization.
• Energy Information Administration. Weekly crude oil input to refineries.
• Energy Information Administration. Weekly finished gasoline production.
• Energy Information Administration. Weekly distillate production.
• Energy Information Administration. Gallons of gasoline and distillate from one barrel.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service. Iowa ethanol plant prices, weekly.
• Environmental Protection Agency. Gasoline standards, including which cities require reformulated gasoline.

California

• California Energy Commission. Estimated gasoline price breakdown and margins. Cap and trade, the low-carbon fuel standard, the tank fee, and the excise tax.
• California Energy Commission. Why California gasoline costs more: the isolated market, the blend, the programs, and the tax.

The station

• Gas Station Compliance Hub. A worked rack-to-street example: landed cost, tax, overhead, the card fee, and a target dime.
• Environmental Protection Agency. Underground storage tanks are registered by location. A tank can be 5,000, 7,000, 10,000, or 20,000 gallons.

Supply, the strait, and the war

• Energy Information Administration. Short-Term Energy Outlook. World liquids supply and demand.
• Columbia University, Center on Global Energy Policy. The 2026 war, Hormuz, and the barrel.
• Congressional Research Service, R45281. The Strait of Hormuz, through August 7, 2026.
• BurggrabenH, on X. A note on the barrels still moving.
• Recon_One7, on X. A note sent in while the strait was being counted.

Food

• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. The food dollar, 2024. The farm's share, and the shares for eggs, beef, and milk.
• Economic Research Service. Food Dollar data product.
• Economic Research Service. How the food dollar is counted. Energy was 4.3 cents of the 2023 dollar. Freight was 3.5.
• Baker and Zachary, Economic Research Service, report 357, 2026. A more detailed food dollar.
• Economic Research Service. National farm expenses. Fuel, diesel, and fertilizer.
• Economic Research Service. Cost to grow corn, wheat, milk, hogs, and a calf, by year.
• Economic Research Service. Monthly farm, wholesale, and retail values for beef, pork, chicken, and eggs.
• Economic Research Service. Farm-to-retail spreads, including milk.
• Economic Research Service, report 112. How long a cattle-price move takes to reach the grocery case.
• National Agricultural Statistics Service. Farm production expenditures, 2025.
• University of Wisconsin. What a farm pays to haul milk, and how little of a diesel spike gets passed through.
• Federal Milk Marketing Order 30. Hauling charges, May 2025. Staff paper 25-03.
• Egg Industry Center. Specialty egg costs, 2024. Feed per dozen, and what an extra 25 miles of feed hauling costs.
• National Beef Wire. What it costs to truck a finished steer to the plant.
• Cheese Reporter, from the Economic Research Service. Whole milk in 2024: $3.98 at the store, $1.97 at the farm.
• University of Arkansas. 2024 wheat fields. Diesel was about $13 an acre.
• University of Illinois, farmdoc daily. Crop costs since 1975, from the Economic Research Service series.
• AgriNews, citing the 2024 food dollar by product. Eggs 69 cents, beef 52, fresh milk 51.