As a totally unconnected thing to sailing but came up in our round table discussions, there is indeedee a little Gremlin which eats and destroys diesel fuels.
For the unbelievers at the table I quote the following.
Kathon FP 1.5 microbicide from Rohm and Haas is a patented, high performance antimicrobial agent, developed specifically to combat problems of microbial contamination and spoilage in hydrocarbon fuels.
Talking to an aircraft engineer friend, the little buggers can block up filters and the like in bad contaminations. Evidentally they live in the water contamination, feeding on the diesel.