# Barrel

Physical unit
Unit name Barrel
Unit symbol ${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {bbl.}}$ or ${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {bl.}}$
Physical quantity (s) volume
Formula symbol ${\ displaystyle V}$
dimension ${\ displaystyle {\ mathsf {L ^ {3}}}}$
system Anglo-American system of measurement
In SI units ${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {1 \; bbl. (Imp.) = 0 {,} 159 \, 113 \, 2 \; m ^ {3}}}$

${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {1 \; bbl. (US) = 0 {,} 158 \, 987 \, 3 \; m ^ {3}}}$ ${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {1 \; bl. (Imp.) = 0 {,} 163 \, 659 \, 3 \; m ^ {3}}}$ ${\ displaystyle \ mathrm {1 \; bl. (US) = 0 {,} 119 \, 240 \, 5 \; m ^ {3}}}$

Named after English barrel , "barrel"

The barrel ( / ˈbɛʁəl / ; English : ['bæɹəɫ] , barrel ) is the most common unit for crude oil and describes a historical barrel with 159 liters. It is a unit of measurement of the cavity, see dimensions of space . A distinction is made between the common US American barrel and the Imperial (i.e. British), both are available for petroleum products and beer with different dimensions.

## History of the barrel

### Petroleum industry

Herring barrel with a capacity of 159 liters

The place in European culture where oil was first extracted was Pechelbronn in Alsace . The earth pitch spring there has been documented since 1498. The petroleum, which comes from the so-called Pechelbronn layers , was initially used medicinally for skin diseases. Commercial use began in 1735 and ended in 1970. Generations of technicians visited the area to learn how to extract and refine oil. This is also where the method of filling petroleum products (raw products, medical products, lamp oil, lubricating oil) into barrels comes from.

Oil barrels from different eras in the German Oil Museum in Wietze

Among the barrels standardized in the wholesale trade, wine or beer barrels were not chosen, but cleaned herring barrels. At that time, salted herring was sold in barrels in large quantities inland, so that these barrels could be purchased cheaply. To prevent mix-ups and later filling with food, the bottom of the keg was painted blue. As production increased, barrels of the imported size were ordered from local cooperators . After the first oil wells were drilled in Wietze in 1858/59 and then in Titusville , Pennsylvania in the USA in 1859 , the entrepreneurs not only took over the techniques from Pechelbronn, but also had casks made of oak by local cooperators with the dimensions as in Pechelbronn. In addition to the old herring ton of 158.987 liters, US producers also adopted the habit of painting the bottom of the barrel blue. The two massive iron rings around the barrel are called "beads", on them "roll beaded barrels" could be rolled.

A typical standard barrel (55 gallon drum) does not hold exactly one barrel, but around 205 to 216.5 liters, i.e. approx. 3/4 more. The dimensions are around 585 mm in diameter with a height of 880 mm.

### Complexity and diversity of old barrel sizes

The following entry in the Economic Encyclopedia shows the complexity and diversity of the systems of measurement at that time with different dimensions (barrel sizes) for different liquids, which also differed from country to country :

“Barrel or Barell, is an English word which means something like the French baril. It is a common measure in England, which is 31.5 gallons or about 126 French. Contains potts, or Parisian pints for the wine, and 36 gallons or 144 pots for the beer. The most common barrel of Alla, which is a sweet beer without hops, holds 32 gallons, which is 2 pots more than the wine. 2 barrels do a hogshead , which is an English Muid . The barrel does 2 Kilderkins . "

This is about the English muid . The comparative measures in the quote differ from country to country and even from region to region even more than the barrel. The muid (lat. Modius 'abundant') ranged from 268 liters in Paris to 1500 liters in Scandinavia . The muid is only used today as the 1300 liter size in Châteauneuf-du-Pape .

## Terms, units and conversion factors

The unit symbols for barrel are: bl., Bbl. ( US volume) or bl. Imp., Bbl. Imp. ( Imperial volume). The abbreviation bbl. stands for blue barrel , a blue barrel with standardized content.

### Petroleum and gas industry

In international use, the US American barrel with 158.987 liters is used. The imperial barrel is not used.

#### oil

• bbl = One Barrel of Oil = 1 barrel of oil
• Mbbl = One Thousand Barrels = 1000 barrels. M stands for mille (lat. 1000).
• MMbbl = million barrels = million barrels
• For example, bpd or bopd ( barrels of oil per day , short b / d ) is taken for the amount of crude oil that an oil well or oil field extracts per day.
• Mbpd = One thousand barrels of oil per day = 1000 barrels of oil per day
• MMbpd = One million barrels of oil per day = 1 million barrels of oil per day

#### gas

• Mcf = Thousand Standard Cubic Feet = thousand cubic feet (cft)
• MMcf = Million Standard Cubic Feet = Million Cubic Feet
• BCF = Billion Standard Cubic Feet = billion cubic feet
• TCF = Trillion Standard Cubic Feet = Billion Cubic Feet
• Mcfpd = Thousand Standard Cubic Feet per day = thousand cubic feet per day
• MMcfpd = Million Standard Cubic Feet per day = Million Cubic Feet per day

#### Barrels of oil equivalent (BOE)

• boe (BOE) ( barrels of oil equivalent ) was introduced in order to be able to compare oil, gas and liquid gas quantities with one another in terms of their energy content. It is taken into account that the unit of mass natural gas and crude oil provide different amounts of combustion energy. One calculates: 5.5–6 Mcf gas = 1 barrel oil equivalent (BOE). Compare: oil unit .
• boepd = Barrels of oil equivalent per day = Barrel oil equivalent per day
• MMBOE = Million barrels of oil equivalent = million barrels of oil equivalent
• MMBOEpd = Million barrels of oil equivalent per day = million barrels of oil equivalent per day

### conversion

#### oil

• 1 bbl. = 158.987294928 liter (l)
• 1 bbl. ≈ 0.137 metric tons of crude oil (with a density of ≈ 0.8617 t / m³)
• 7.3 bbl. ≈ 1 ton of oil
• 1 bbl. Imp. = 159.113159869818 liters
• 1 bbl. Imp. = 35 gallons (Imp.)
• 1 bbl. Imp. = 280 pint (Imp.)
• 1 bbl. Imp. = 9709.68075 cubic inch
• 1 bbl. Imp. ≈ 1,00079 bbl.
• 24000 bbl. Imp. = 24019 bbl.

#### gas

• 1 Mcf = 1000 cft = 1000 cubic feet of gas = 28.316846592 cubic meters of gas
1 cubic meter of gas ≈ 35.315 cubic feet of gas
• 1 MMcf = 1000 Mcf
• 1 BCF = 1000 MMcf
• 1 TCF = 1000 BCF

1 cubic foot of gas provides an amount of energy between 1010 BTU and 1070 BTU, which is approximately 1065 to 1129 kilojoules. A barrel of oil equivalent BOE is defined as:

Accordingly:

• 1 boe ≈ 5421 to 5743 cubic feet of gas ≈ 153 to 163 cubic meters of gas
• 1 MMBTU = 1 million BTU = 1,054,804 kilojoules ≈ 935 to 990 cubic feet of gas ≈ 26.5 to 28 cubic meters of gas

### Other liquids

The following conversion factors apply to beer, wine and the like:

• 1 sheet (Imp.) = 163.6593 liters
• 1 sheet (Imp.) = 36 gallons (imp.)
• 1 sheet (Imp.) = 288 pint (imp.)
• 1 sheet (Imp.) = 9987.1002 cubic inches
• 1 sheet (US) = 119.2405 liters
• 1 sheet (US) = 31.5 gallons (US)
• 1 sheet (US) = 252 pint (US)
• 1 sheet (US) = 7276.5 cubic inches
• 1 sheet (Imp.) ≈ 1.3725 bl. (US)
• 17,500 sheets (Imp.) = 24.019 bl. (US)

## Barrel as a historical measure of liquid in England

### Wine measure

• Imperial measure 1 barrel of wine = 31½ gallons = 63 pottles = 126 quarts = 252 pints = 7212 ½ Parisian cubic inches = 143 liters
• old wine measure 1 barrel = 7052 ¼ Parisian cubic inches = 139 ¾ liters
• 2 barrels = 1 hogshead
• 4 barrels = 1 pipe
• 8 barrels = 1 ton (tun)

### Beer measurements

• Newer imperial measure 1 barrel (ale or white unhopped beer) = 32 gallons = 64 pottles = 128 quarts = 256 pints = 7327 Parisian cubic inches = 145 1/5 liters
• old wheat beer measure 1 barrel = 7164 1/5 Parisian cubic inches = 142 3/20 liters
• 1 barrel = 1½ hogshead
• old imperial measure 1 barrel (hopped beer or brown beer or porter) = 36 gallons = 72 pottles = 144 quarts = 288 pints = 8242 4/5 Parisian cubic inches = 163 ⅓ liters
• old beer measure 1 barrel = 8059 3/5 Parisian cubic inches = 159.7 liters
• 1 barrel = 1 ½ hogshead,
• 3 barrels = 1 pipe (butt)
• 6 barrels = 1 ton (tun)

### Commercial weight

The barrel as a unit of mass (trade weight) had different values ​​for many products.

Examples:

• 1 barrel of butter = 101.605 kilograms
• 1 barrel of flour = 88.904 kilograms
• 1 barrel of pitch = 128.594 kilograms
• 1 barrel of potash = 93.719 kilograms
• 1 barrel of raisins = 50.802 kilograms
• 1 barrel of salt = 127,000 kilograms
• 1 barrel of salt, pounded = 25.4 kilograms
• 1 barrel of gunpowder = 11.34 kilograms
• 1 barrel of soap = 116.120 kilograms

### Counting measure

As a British measure for herrings

• 1 barrel = 10 Hundreds = 1200 pieces

## literature

Commons : Oil Barrels  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Barrel  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations