US Barrels (Oil)
Abbreviation/Symbol:
bbl
bbl (oil)
Unit of:
Worldwide use:
The oil barrel (bbl) is 42 US gallons, or 158.987 liters, and crude oil is priced and traded in it worldwide, not just in the United States. The size dates from the Pennsylvania oil fields of the 1860s.
Definition:
US barrels (oil) is defined as 42 US gallons, which is equivalent to approximately 159 liters or 35 imperial gallons. The US barrel is different from the UK barrel, US dry barrels and US liquid barrels.
Crude oil and petroleum products are priced per barrel in world commodity markets, and reserves, production and consumption are reported in barrels too – usually as barrels per day.
Origin:
The oil barrel is 42 US gallons, about 159 liters. It dates from the Pennsylvania oil fields of the 1860s, where wooden barrels of about that size were in common use, so 42 gallons became the standard.
Usage context:
An oil barrel is 42 US gallons, or 158.987 liters, and crude oil is priced per barrel worldwide, usually abbreviated bbl. A cubic meter of oil is about 6.29 barrels.